Apple Bundt Cake Fail

        Since being transplanted to the South almost 3 years ago, there are certain things that I have learned to love. Among them are cooking, southern drawls, sweet tea, biscuits, REAL banana pudding, Alabama Football and of course Southern Living Magazine. Although I have yet to master the art of Southern Cuisine, I make attempts constantly.
The other day I had a few leftover apples that were about to go downhill and a craving for cake. I immediately thought about this recipe featured in the September 2011 issue. Doesn't it look just scrumptious?

From Southern Living September 2011 Issue. 

                                                                        Photo: Luca Trovato; Styling: Buffy Hargett



I should have known that the fact that I was out of flour was a sign from above but of course I decided I would  "MacGyver" it. I figured I would make MY version inspired by the deliciousness above using a pre made mix and substituting the liquid in it for my chopped and cooked apples. This was my box of choice 

Cinnamon cake and Apples are the perfect  solution right? WRONG!

I proceeded to cook my chopped apples with 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a dash of nutmeg, cinnamon & cloves. The House smelled delicious while they cooked. Once they were soft and cooled I mixed with the crumb cake mix and one egg. Baked according to box directions and accepted all the compliments on HOW GOOD it smelled while it was baking. I was already picturing the lovely ways I would portray it on here and how I would ice it to look close to the one in Southern Living.
 Because I was SO SURE it was going to come out great, I decided to talk about it and offer it as dessert to our hosts for dinner the next night. I bragged that the house smelled delicious and that the batter was scrumptious ( note: Raw cake or cookie batter is BAD for you and could make you real sick ). When my timer went off, It looked perfect and after the cooling timer was done I was ready to take it out of the pan.
To my horror, this is what It looked like :

Half the cake means Half the calories, right?

Do you think icing would cover these IMPERFECTIONS? 

Although I thought frosting it might cover an imperfection or two, there was not enough icing to cover the fact that half the cake was stuck to the pan. And even though it looked terrible, it was the most delicious apple cake I have ever had. In my sadness, I almost ate off the half that I scraped off the pan so trust me when I say it was delish! After I came down from my cake induced high, I remembered me and my big mouth had already offered to bring it for dessert, talk about blowing it.What was I going to make now? I have NO FLOUR.

I called my gracious hostess and explained my predicament. I must have really sold her on how GREAT it tasted because we decided that no one would have to know it wasn't supposed to look like this. We would just call it the  artisan look and put a big dollop of whipped cream on the top and a bowl of ice cream on the side. Everyone loved it and shared laughs over my failed attempt. Of course one could say that how can you not love something when there is whipped cream and ice cream involved ;). 

On the bright side, it gave me something to write about ha! So until next time I leave you with this, in honor of my favorite cookie monster meme :