Baking & the Big Screen: Cupcakes & The Cat in the Hat
This movie was picked for one reason and one reason only: it had a scene at least tangentially related to a cupcake. Which was the baked good I was dying to make for a friend’s birthday - and to step out of my comfort zone by (kind of) cobbling together my own recipe. I quickly learned that for as good as my baking was this month, the movie was bad in equal measures. I was so determined to not use a movie I’d seen and a baking attempt I’ve never tried that I ruled out watching the one movie that I know has a cupcake focused on for a moment: Bridesmaids. Needless to say, I’m regretting that decision because that was 90 minutes of horrible movie that I can never get back.
The Cat in the Hat
Starring Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin, Kelly Preston, Dakota Fanning, Spencer Breslin, Amy Hill, Sean Hayes
Director: Bo Welch
Released in 2003
Available on Netflix
To get the worst over with, do not, under any circumstances, waste time on this movie. The fact that budget was put behind this was devastating. Granted, it has been a while since I spent time with a Dr. Seuss book, but my vague memories of that story are nothing like the crass, potty-humor-filled and vaguely racist interpretation that is currently on Netflix. There are fart jokes, confusing caricatures and Alec Baldwin in an absolutely baffling role as a disgusting almost stepfather to the two main children. Mike Myers can’t seem to figure out what movie he’s in, his persona (and terrible accents) change minute to minute as if he’s doing impersonations that no one is going to understand.
I also was a bit tricked into this being listed as a movie having cupcakes in them - instead, it’s a confusing mini infomercial the Cat seems to have with two other versions of himself in the midst of the movie as they claim you can combine anything into this machine and huzzah! cupcakes. Thankfully, my pieced together recipe turned out infinitely better than the nightmare that was that attempt at a movie.
So, saving the best for last, this cupcake may be one of the best things i’ve made. It isn’t the absolute prettiest thing I’ve made, but I’m not sure I’ve made better cupcakes ever. And the exciting thing was how different this was for me: making a filled cupcake. I used a basic chocolate cake recipe, made a Bailey’s buttercream for the filling and the frosting, topped it off with some chocolate ganache and a couple of dark chocolate covered espresso beans. I still need to work on presentation, but I’m thrilled how I was able to create something like this - and it opened up my mind to trying more experimental bakes for the future.