Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake

Guess what guys? It's my birthday! It's pretty awesome, if I may say so... I love birthdays! Birthdays are an awesome excuse to do all kinds of fun things, like drink gratuitous amounts of wine with your friends and have a nerf gun fight in your basement. And also cake. Birthdays are a great excuse to eat cake.

Everyone thought I was crazy for making my own birthday cake. In fact, everyone kept offering to buy me one, like it was sad that I had to make my own. But, sick as it sounds, I actually enjoy making my own birthday cake! If I make it myself I know I'll get exactly what I want... plus, in case you haven't noticed, I kind of like this whole cooking/baking thing.

For a while I was totally set on making a German chocolate cake, but then I ate a Ferrero Rocher truffle out of my Christmas stocking and I knew... this year's birthday cake had to involve chocolate and hazelnuts. I've always been a fan of the chocolate-nut combination, but hazelnuts and chocolate are simply irresistible. So I set out to find my perfect cake. I knew I wanted a rich, dense, chocolate cake with just a hint of hazelnut... check. And a creamy, chocolately frosting, heavy on the hazelnut flavor... check. The result was out of this world. Exactly what I wanted. And so good my friends were begging for the recipe the next day... you know, after they recovered from all the booze and nerf gun fighting.

Pina Colada Cake

Next up on the dessert menu for our awesome graduation BBQ was this epic Pina Colada cake! I knew the peanut butter chocolate cake was going to be rich, even before I made it, so I knew we would need a lighter option for the cake table. As a self-admitted chocolate addict, it was very difficult not to pick another chocolate cake out of the book, but I realized that not everyone loves chocolate as much as I do and that we needed something completely different for our second cake.

Enter this fine piece of dessert.

Light, brown sugar cake... pineapple-rum filling... and rich, coconut buttercream with toasty flakes of sweet coconut... what's not to love? It was the perfect airy, tropical counterpart to the other cake. It was sweet, it was boozy, and oh boy was it good. I even sent a few doggie bags home, because everyone wanted more.

I won't lie to you though... this cake was more work than I honestly expected. First, the pineapple filling took almost an hour to thicken like it was supposed to. Luckily I made it up the night before and didn't have to wait on it! Then, the frosting nearly gave me a heat attack. I decided to frost and decorate the cake the morning of the party, thinking it wouldn't take that long, but the first time I made the frosting I added the butter too soon and it separated into an oily mess and I had to make it all over again. So learn from me, and make sure you whip the egg whites and syrup until they're glossy before you add the butter! By some stroke of luck I had left extra eggs out overnight, but I hadn't softened any extra butter so I had to do it in the microwave and pray that the thinner butter would work. So I tried again. I boiled more syrup. I whipped more egg whites. And I whipped and whipped and whipped until I was afraid my mixer would overheat. And just when I had resigned myself to the idea that I would have to run to Albertson's and buy canned frosting so I could at least serve the damn cake... it came together. It was light and fluffy and glossy, just like it was supposed to be. 

And it was totally worth it. :)

So if you've got a tropical party coming up soon or any occasion that needs a spectacular cake that tastes like the beach, give this cake a try. It might be take a little extra work, but trust me... it won't disappoint.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

A month or so ago when my family was talking about the BBQ we would have in celebration of Megan and I graduating this spring, I had a crazy idea... I wanted to make the cake for the event. Since our graduations were so close together, Megan and I agreed that we'd just have one BBQ for the both of us, instead of one for each. But graduation is no small event for either of us. Megan was born with a chromosomal abnormality and, when she was a baby, no one was even sure how long she'd live... her graduation from high school is a momentous feat. And of course, I've worked hard to get myself through college. So I decided that even if we couldn't each have our own special party, we at least each deserved our own special cake.

So, always eager to buy a new cookbook, I bought Sky High Cakes for inspiration. Together, Megan and I decided what cakes we would have for our BBQ... and I was not a bit surprised when Megan chose one covered in chocolate and peanut butter. This kid would eat a whole jar of peanut butter with a spoon if we let her.

And oh boy... did she pick a delicious cake.

Once we cut into the cakes there was no time to get photos of the individual slices... they went too fast! This cake was by far the favorite too, and there wasn't crumb left of it by the end of the night. This cake was downright sinful. The layers of cake were fudgy, and the creamy peanut butter frosting melted in your mouth like butter in the oven. And, even though I didn't think it was possible, the chocolate-peanut butter glaze took the sinful flavor of this to a whole 'nother level. It was rich and creamy, and chocolatey, and peanut buttery... and amazing. 

After they finished with a piece of this cake I had people trying to hire to make their birthday cakes for them! My grandmother thinks I ought to turn cake-baking into a side business... and someone even suggested that I should make my own wedding cake, haha! And to be honest, I don't need the encouragement, because I'd already thought of that myself. But that would be crazy, right? Who needs the stress of putting a cake together the day before her wedding? Right? :)

Dinner Party: Italian Cream Cake

I am a firm believer that one cannot have a party without dessert. :)

This cake was the crown jewel of my dinner party. All things considered, it turned out quite beautiful... as a very novice cake decorator, my frosting didn't turn out quite as smooth as I had hoped, but it still made a pretty centerpiece for the table, nonetheless. And that's just the outside. The cake itself was light and melt-in-your-mouth moist with a mature, sweet flavor thanks to the toasted pecans and coconut that went into the batter. And while I was afraid that the cream cheese frosting would be too rich, it was the perfect compliment to the nutty, decadent cake... creamy and sweet without overpowering the other flavors in the cake. The three layers were pretty to look at once it was cut too, and gave a little testament to the amount of work than went into it, as well.