Happy Birthday Dorothy: Part II

Since Dorothy never got to enjoy her last round of birthday cake, I tried again.  This time, I went out on a limb and tried a new recipe.  I mean, it's from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, so how bad could it be, right? 

Here are Martha's Brown Sugar Pound Cupcakes.  Instead of the boring glaze Martha recommends for these lovely cakes, I topped them with her brown sugar cream cheese frosting.  Mmmmmmm!  This frosting is so soft and smooth, it's like a rich sauce for your cake.  And your life.  To up the ante a bit more, I sprinkled chopped pecans on half of the cakes and drizzled just a bit of caramel over them.

Here she is, the birthday girl!  Isn't she sweet?  Of course she is!  She loved her birthday cake! Of course she did!  It was so good! 

   

Happy Birthday Dorothy: Part I

Dorothy's the best.  She's awesome.  So for her birthday, I brought my A-game.  Rich, double chocolate cake with caramel swiss meringue buttercream sprinkled with pecans and drizzled with homemade caramel. 

Below, on the right is a shot of that homemade caramel sauce.  It's pure magic that happens when plain old white sugar and water get all hot and bothered.  When you add some cream, whoa!  It's on!

BUT! 

There's a but.  A big one.  But, Sunday night, I fell down my stairs.  Just missed a step and flew down the rest of them.  I was laid up for a couple of days so I was not able to bring Dorothy her cupcakes!  She never even got to taste her wonderfully rich cake or let the sinfully silky frosting just melt on her tongue!  Boo! 

Bonus Pics: 

Here's my jacked up wrist: 

I don't think it's broken, but the jury's still out.  Nah, I'm just waiting for the results.  It still works though. 

Guess Who's Five?

Good grief, where did the past five years go?  I can't believe my teeny tiny baby nephew is five already!  What a big boy.  For his party, we went with intense flavor instead of a kitschy theme -- not that there's anything wrong with kitsch!  This was a triple decker chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream in between the layers and chocolate truffle frosting on the outside.  I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't the most beautiful cake I've ever made, but it sure did taste amazing! 

And here's the birthday boy! 

On the left he's with his sister Lilly and

on the right, hamming it up for the camera. 

Monkey Treats For Daisy!

I don't just bake for people.  Dogs love fresh baked yummies too.  So when my friend Marybeth adopted her own four-legged homie named Daisy, I couldn't wait to bake! 

Here she is!  It's Daisy! 

This whole sheet of cookies is from just one batch.  Here they are, chock full of bacony goodness, ready to go into the oven to get nice and crispy. 

           

And here they are, cooling off, ready to be totally inhaled in one bite!

Just because he's so cute I had to include him, here's Monkey, the eponymous muse for these treats and my most favorite boy in the whole world!