How to use those eyes of blue

My high school chorus teacher used to tell me I seemed to think I could get away with anything by batting my little eyes. I got in trouble a lot in chorus. Now, in general I deserved to get in trouble in classes. I was a note passer, a whisper, a talker backer. But in chorus I SWEAR that every time I got in trouble it was undeserved. I would be whispering the correct page of music to my neighbor and SOMEHOW I'd hear my name bellowed from across the room instructing me to shut my mouth (which seems like the antithesis of what you would want to do in chorus, but whatever). But as my first sentence intimates, I was never in trouble for very long and I was never in bad trouble.

Nowadays its much harder to get out of situations by batting my eyes. I mean, it still works great with Thatboy, but I have yet to get opposing counsel to settle a case by using the big blues I was blessed with. At my office, I am considered a different type of trouble maker. Everytime I bring in a goodie, I get head shakes and curses (as they go back for seconds). I also have become the new sounding board for "have you tried this recipe?" The organizer stopped by my office a few weeks ago to ask this very question in reference to a cake she makes and uses boxed cake mix and pudding as filling. I decided to use that as a jumping post and try to make a healthier treat for everyone to enjoy.

This post is a couple of weeks late, because I actually made this to celebrate the 4th of July which is explains the red, white, and blue. Instead of frosting the cake with traditional frosting, I decided to make a patriotic, lighter stand and just use powdered sugar and fruit.

And I'll let you in on a little baking secret. Growing up, my best friend had a thing for white cake. It was her favorite. Her mom, who taught me the joy of homemade pasta and pizelles, confided in me the secret to a perfect white cake. It's egg whites. See, most people who make white cake throw in the whole egg, and the yolks make the cakes less than white. It gives it a bit of a yellow cast. Substitute egg whites in for whole eggs and your cake will be as white as newly fallen snow. And then you can tell all your coworkers how healthy this cake is since it doesn't use egg yolk! Although as one of my coworkers announced "It sure doesn't taste healthy!"

4th of July Cake

• Baking Spray
• box white cake mix
• 6 Tbsp water
• 3 egg whites, separated
• 4 oz vanilla pudding
• strawberries and blueberries
• confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray 8 inch cake pan with baking spray. Place cake mix, water, and 2 egg whites in bowl and beat with electric mixer just until moistened.
   
2. Increase speed for 3 minutes. Pour into pan. Bake 25-30 minutes. Cool 20 minutes in pan, then remove from pan and cool completely.
3. Beat remaining egg white until soft peaks form, fold into pudding and refrigerate.
4. Slice cake horizontally in half to make 2 layers. Place bottom layer on serving dish and spread pudding over top. Add top layer.
   
5. Sift powdered sugar all over cake and then top with berries. Add some more sugar (go on - no one's looking)