Birthday Bash

We are mostly packed and headed back to the garden state tomorrow after a fun weekend with family and friends.  By getting here a bit earlier than originally planned I was able to make my nephew's birthday cakes and walk my SisterBaby through making a set on her own for Tatertot's second party.  I didn't get pictures of her cakes, hopefully she'll email me one and I can show you a picture of how nice they turned out.  Here is how mine turned out, obviously we went for a sports theme (SisterBaby was given a football shaped pan and just had to use it)!

Tatertot has been deprived of sugar his whole life, he was quite thrilled with sticking his hands into the frosting and licking it off his fingers!

SisterBaby wanted "Healthy" cakes!  My chocolate fudge cake uses pumpkin so we made one of those and I made up a new recipe a bit on the fly which turned out awesome!  I made a yellow cake with pumpkin and pineapple, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be making this one again.  Not really healthy since there is plenty of white flour and sugar in it, but eat enough of it and I think you'd get a whole serving of fruits and veggies!

Pineapple Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup crushed pineapple
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract (or a combo)
2 eggs

Blend well and bake according to the box.  Here's a tip, if you are making a cake in a deep pan or bowl, bake at 325 instead of the standard 350.  It will definitely take longer but this reduces the risk of the cake ending up over cooked on the outside and still runny on the inside.  Our baseball took over an hour this way but I've done enough to know this was the best way to bake it.

Decorate with homemade chocolate icing and a little green coconut grass!  Let me know if you are interested in that recipe, I'll gladly share.

Update:  Here are SisterBaby's versions.  She did an awesome job too, much better than my first child's first birthday cake!

Peace be with you,