Old-Fashioned Birthday Cake

It's my birthday... 

let's celebrate!!!  

In case it is not painfully obvious already, I LOVE celebrating special occasions. And why not?  Shouldn't we take time to have a little fun now and then?  And when it comes to our birthdays, we should absolutely celebrate and value our lives. I can definitely say I have enjoyed my life to the fullest this last year, and I intend to do the same in the year to come.  Oh sure, the year wasn't perfect, but neither am I.  All I can ask for is to live a happy life, to do what I love, and to be surrounded by people that I cherish.  

Oh, and to eat.  

So in the interest of letting my perfectionist self have a little rest, put my feet up, and enjoy a slice of cake today, I am just going to be short and sweet here:  I made an old-fashioned birthday cake and I loved it.  

This is the type of cake that my mother might have made for me as a child, and I would have ended up with robin's egg blue icing all around my mouth as I ate it.  Even though I am an adult now, this type of cake still has an undeniable appeal to me, and I predictably still ended up getting icing everywhere.  (And I am not ashamed to admit it.)  This cake is perfect in its simplicity, with basic white cake layers with pure vanilla flavor, and vanilla buttercream and icing that you can tint any color your heart desires.  There are aren't really any major bells and whistles, with the exception of edible gold stars that I couldn't resist putting on the cake to add a little sparkle.

Maybe I made this cake because it is a throw-back to younger years, or because I just wanted something that felt like home.  Who knows, but what I can say is that this cake was just plain fun, I felt all giddy just looking at it, and the taste was exactly what I wanted.  So if that doesn't describe a perfect birthday cake, then I don't know what does.  

Thanks for celebrating with me, and I hope when your birthday comes around that your cake makes you feel giddy too.  Enjoy the photos!              

Vanilla buttercream frosting, that I tinted robin's egg blue.   Love this color.

And yes... It is the color of Tiffanys. 

Adding buttercream frosting between the layers of white cake.

Smoothing out the sides for a crumb coat.

Chocolate and Salted Caramel Birthday Layer Cake

So before I tell you about this luscious chocolate layer cake, I just want to mention that today marks opening day for voting in Project Food Blog 2010!  Don't have any clue what I am talking about?  You can find some info here, and also see my profile by clicking on the cute little widget with my cute little picture that is over on the sidebar (or here).  In a nutshell, 2,000+ bloggers will compete in a series of challenges to determine who is the next food blog star.  Oh yeah, and that person will win $10,000.  A minor detail of course.  Since I am participating (and fiercely competitive), I would love your support and your votes!  I really hope you enjoyed reading my first entry and you can vote for me using this link, just click the heart!  Also, on the voting page you can share my entry on Facebook or Twitter.  Isn't technology these days wonderful?    

And now, without further ado... On to the birthday festivities!  

I am a little late in posting this cake, since I made it August for my good friends Jenn and Jill.  They both have birthdays within weeks of each other, although Jill is a Leo and Jenn is a Virgo.  (I am sure you were dying to know that.)  I thought about having a separate birthday celebration for each of them, but then it seemed like too much to take on, even for me, especially considering I was making a second layer cake that same weekend.  So, to properly celebrate both their birthdays, I decided I would make them a spectacular cake that was just to their liking. 

I already had a good idea about the kinds of flavors that were their favorites, but to be absolutely sure, I asked them in advance while we chatting online what kind of cake they would like.  This is what they said:

White Chocolate Layer Cake with Apricot Filling and White Chocolate Buttercream

I know.  You can't believe it.  You think you might be dreaming, or maybe having some sort of weird deja vu experience because I am posting yet another recipe with apricots and peaches.  Can you stand it?  I hope so, because this cake is actually pretty dreamy, and is an awesome Celebration Cake.  Just scroll down a little bit and you can check out all the goodies that are packed into this dessert.  That doozy of a title pretty much tells it all, but aren't we all visual creatures?  (Men, I am not just talking about you.)

Oh yes, there is that silky, sweet White Chocolate Buttercream.

One delicious layer of White Chocolate Cake on top of another. Plus, apricot filling and more buttercream. *sigh*   

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Did I mention that my boyfriend loves sweets?  Oh, I said that already?  Wait, now I remember: I think my exact words were, "He has an insatiable sweet tooth and I can't say I have the inclination or the will power to refuse him."  Hmm, lets check again... Yep, that's is still true.  So you will have to forgive me, but despite the fact that he is leaving in three days (soooooo sad), I now have a backlog of sugary and chocolately recipes that I will be posting.  These recipes will not be kind to your waistline and will most certainly violate any possible diet you might be on, but they absolutely will make you smile with glee.  So to kick off this sugar-spree, I present rich, gooey, melt-in-your-mouth Double Chocolate Cupcakes.  

So my boyfriend obviously really enjoys his sweets, which means he loves his cupcakes.  But they can't be just any cupcakes.  Oh no.  They need to have chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate.  No peanut butter, or mint, and certainly no berries.  In his opinion, chocolate should be chocolate.  (He is crazy.  Give me chocolate and strawberries any day, and I am happy woman.)  So, to appease the love-of-my-life a.k.a. chocolate-worshipper, I went on a quest to find the perfect chocolate cupcake.