It was a bright Saturday morning, and Dave was feeling very proud of himself. His wife, Sarah, was away for the weekend, and he had decided to surprise her by baking her favourite chocolate cake. Dave had never baked anything before, but how hard could it be?
He found a recipe online called “Easy Chocolate Cake – Foolproof!” and laughed. “Perfect for me!” he said to the empty kitchen.
Step 1: Gather the ingredients.
Dave opened the cupboard and took out flour, sugar, and cocoa powder. Then he went to the fridge for eggs and butter. “Milk… milk…” he muttered. There was no milk. “No problem,” he said. “Yogurt is basically milk, right?” He added a large spoonful of strawberry yogurt to his ingredients.
Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients.
Dave poured flour into a big bowl. Then he added sugar. Then he sneezed. A large cloud of flour poofed into the air, covering his face and hair. He looked like a ghost. “This is fine,” he coughed, wiping his face with his sleeve.
Step 3: Add the wet ingredients.
Dave cracked the eggs into the bowl. The first egg went in perfectly. The second egg slipped from his hand and landed on the floor with a splat. “Five-second rule!” he said, scooping it up with a spoon and dropping it into the mix. He added the butter (still cold from the fridge) and the strawberry yogurt. Then he mixed everything together. The mixture was lumpy and a strange pinkish-brown colour.
Step 4: Bake for 30 minutes.
Dave poured the strange mixture into a cake tin and put it in the oven. Then he sat on the sofa and waited. After ten minutes, a weird smell filled the kitchen. It was not the smell of chocolate cake. It was more like… burning rubber.
Dave jumped up and opened the oven. A thick grey smoke poured out. Coughing, he pulled out the cake. It was black on top, raw in the middle, and had bubbles of pink yogurt bursting through.
“Oh no,” Dave whispered.
Just then, his phone rang. It was Sarah. “Hi, love! Just checking in. What are you up to?”
Dave looked at the disaster in front of him. “Uh… nothing much. Just… cleaning.”
“That’s nice!” Sarah said. “Listen, I’m coming home early. My meeting was cancelled. I’ll be back in an hour!”
Dave’s eyes widened. “An hour?! I mean… great! Can’t wait!”
He hung up and stared at the cake. There was no time to bake another one. Then he had an idea.
He grabbed his keys, ran to his car, and drove to the nearest bakery. He bought the biggest, most beautiful chocolate cake they had. Then he raced home, threw the bakery cake onto a plate, and hid his burnt mess in the bin.
When Sarah arrived, she walked into the kitchen and gasped. “Dave! You baked me a cake?”
Dave wiped flour from his hair and smiled. “Of course! Happy… weekend!”
Sarah took a bite. “Mmm! This is amazing! You’ve been hiding your baking skills from me!”
Dave laughed nervously. “Well, you know… secret talent.”
Just then, their dog, Max, walked into the kitchen. He went straight to the bin and started eating Dave’s burnt cake.
Sarah frowned. “Max! What’s that?”
Dave’s face turned red. “Uh… dog treats?”
Max made a loud BLEH noise and spat out a lump of pink and black cake.
Sarah looked at Dave. Dave looked at Sarah. Then they both burst out laughing.
“Okay, fine,” Dave admitted. “I tried to bake a cake, and it was a disaster. So I bought one instead.”
Sarah hugged him. “That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever done. But next time… maybe just order takeaway?”
Dave nodded. “Deal.”
And that was the end of Dave’s baking career.
Vocabulary Notes
Foolproof (adjective)
Meaning: So simple or well-designed that nothing can go wrong.
Example: He found a recipe online called “Easy Chocolate Cake – Foolproof!”
Similar words: Fail-safe, reliable, idiot-proof, guaranteed.
Poofed (verb, past tense)
Meaning: To burst or spread out suddenly in a cloud (often used for light materials like flour or dust).
Example: A large cloud of flour poofed into the air, covering his face and hair.
Similar words: Puffed, exploded, scattered, dispersed.
Lumpy (adjective)
Meaning: Full of small solid pieces; not smooth.
Example: The mixture was lumpy and a strange pinkish-brown colour.
Similar words: Bumpy, uneven, clumpy, grainy.
Splat (noun/onomatopoeia)
Meaning: The sound of something wet hitting a surface.
Example: The second egg slipped from his hand and landed on the floor with a splat.
Similar words: Splash, plop, smack, thud.
Disaster (noun)
Meaning: A complete failure or catastrophe.
Example: “Oh no,” Dave whispered, looking at the disaster in front of him.
Similar words: Catastrophe, mess, failure, fiasco.
Bursting (verb, present participle)
Meaning: Breaking open suddenly, often with force.
Example: It had bubbles of pink yogurt bursting through.
Similar words: Exploding, popping, rupturing, splitting.
Gasped (verb, past tense)
Meaning: To take a sudden, sharp breath (often in surprise).
Example: When Sarah arrived, she walked into the kitchen and gasped.
Similar words: Exclaimed, inhaled sharply, shrieked, stared in shock.
Nervously (adverb)
Meaning: In a worried or slightly frightened way.
Example: Dave laughed nervously. “Well, you know… secret talent.”
Similar words: Anxiously, uneasily, timidly, hesitantly.
Bleh (interjection/onomatopoeia)
Meaning: A sound someone (or an animal) makes when they taste something disgusting.
Example: Max made a loud BLEH noise and spat out a lump of pink and black cake.
Similar words: Yuck, ew, ugh, gross.
Takeaway (noun, British English)
Meaning: Prepared food bought from a restaurant to eat at home.
Example: “But next time… maybe just order takeaway?”
Similar words (US English): Takeout, delivery, fast food.
Story written by DeepSeek AI
Image created by Designer AI
Hello this is Steve. If you enjoyed the story, please would you take the time to leave a meaningful comment and click on the like icon. If you want to know when the next story has been uploaded, please click on the notify bell icon to be notified. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to my channel and tell your English learning friends, so they can benefit too. Thank you.
CC Music: Drifting at 432 Hz – Unicorn Heads
Reading Short Stories/Content for English Learners 
Leave a comment