#inktober: Bake- spicy cake

Heat the oven just a little.

Grease the cake pan with a little butter.

Then line the bottom with parchment paper.

All this she said as she did.

In a large bowl, she whisked together a cup of flour,

Half a cup of cocoa powder,

Three spoonfuls of dry chili pepper,

A cup of granulated sugar,

A spoon of baking soda,

And a quarter for salt.

Then came a spoon of cayenne pepper and ground Mexican chili powder,

A spoon of ground cinnamon,

And two teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper.

In a separate medium bowl, she whisked the eggs, sour cream, melted butter, and vanilla extract until completely smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Stir gently with a spatula or wooden spoon just until combined.

The batter will be quite thick at this stage.

Slowly pour the hot water or coffee into the batter.

Whisk gently until the liquid is fully incorporated.

The batter will turn thin and runny—this is exactly what you want for a super moist cake.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes.

My brother walked in and horizontally dipped a spoon in.

"Mum, are you sure this is for humans? It looks like it's for dragons," he said, reaching for a cup of water.

Only then did my mum taste it.

She called out for me to bring her her glasses.

Only then did we find out that the spoon she used to scoop the pepper wasn't a teaspoon at all.

It was a mini soup spoon with a teaspoon-shaped handle, but a deceptively deep scoop.

Dad walked into the kitchen and offered his own commentary:

"Into the center, into the pan, go anywhere but in my mouth!"

I tried tasting a tiny bit to see if it was manageable.

It was hopeless. I ended up gulping down three whole cups of water.

"Into the trash or into the bush, perhaps a stray dragon shall visit your curse," I added.

But my mum couldn't hide her disappointment.

"Ugh, what a waste," she exclaimed.

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THANKS FOR VIEWING

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_{Art created using sketchbook}