Birthday and Cake

It's my party and I will cry if I want to. But I won't because it was awesome! The big one nine. Officially legal throughout all of Canada and nearly everywhere else in the world but the good ol' South, also known as the States. Cigarettes, champagne and lottery tickets here I come. Only joking. About the cigarettes anyway.

 My beloved friend, Bo, made me this amazing card. 

Yes, this that Eric à la True Blood, Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal, Leo from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and, of course, Brad. And that is unfortunately me in the background with moose antlers found in the woods. My other gifts included such things as baking goods, books, a typewriter and loads of great stuff.

But one of the best parts of birthdays are making my own birthday cakes. Last year, it was the sweet and salty cake and this year was the peanut butter cake. While I made something similar for Pumpkin's birthday last year, changes were made to the frosting, a different cake and filling. It sounds completely different but it's the same concept.

Notice the knife, plastic wrap and open door.

Yum, yum, yum.. go find milk.

Peanut Butter Cup Cake
Cake from Barefoot Contessa and frosting from several places

cake

1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee 

icing

1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup cream

assembly

1/3 cup chopped, honey roasted peanuts

2 cups quartered mini peanut butter cups

cake Preheat the oven to 325º. Butter two 8 inch cake pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper and coat in cocoa. Tap off the excess. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. In smaller bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry until just combined. Add the coffee and stir just to combine. The batter will be quite thin, don't worry! Divide the batter amongst the two pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, alternating halfway through. Cool the cakes completely before removing them from the pans.

*If making this ahead of time, wrap the cakes completely in plastic wrap overnight. 

frosting Beat the butter, peanut butter and vanilla together. Sift in the confectioner's sugar. The frosting will be quite thick so slowly add the cream until the desired consistency.

assembly Unwrap the cakes from the plastic wrap. Cut the cakes across the top so that the tops are even. I used a huge, jagged bread knife to get the top even. Place one of the cakes on a cake stand. Spread about 1/2 cup of the peanut butter frosting on the cake. Top with the honey roasted peanuts. Place the next cake on top. Frost the rest of the cake. Don't worry about a crumb coat. With the peanut butter cups, cover the cake. Cover the cake loosely with plastic wrap. Put it in the fridge until serving, preferably within the day of assembly.

The Conan O'Brien Cake Pop

One of my best amigos, compadres, pals, buds, friends, you get the idea; had her sister's birthday coming up. There was this huge party they were having with her friends and family, and my friend was making something for part of the dessert table. Granted her sister was turning twenty four but that did not mean that Hello Kitty cake pops were not an option.

When she arrived at my house, I had the cake baked and ready to go. We headed to the local craft store and picked up the essentials: edible pens, lollipop sticks, candy melts. Little did we know we had about 6 hours of work to clock in before it would all be done. However, they were so cute! Most were normally looking except for a few with handle bar mustaches and the one with a playoff beard named Mike. 

 There are, however, no photos of the Hello Kitty cake pops, all but one. This one is the one and only one made that day, Mr. Conan O'Brien!

Call it unconditional love on my behalf.