5th Birthday Cake (snow tubing party!)

5th Birthday Cake (snow tubing party!)

This is without a doubt a blog about healthy living, and along with that comes celebrations and indulgences.  Birthdays, and children's birthdays in particular, are definitely examples of such occasions.  So my daughter's 5th birthday party, the first real party, with friends, that she has ever had, called for an unforgettable cake. Growing up, my mom always made elaborate homemade cakes for my birthday parties and I have followed in her footsteps ever since my son's first birthday over 8 years ago.  Depending on the party planned and the theme involved, I plan out something extra special, usually weeks or months in advance.  Although not bakery display worthy, my creations are always fun, inventive, delicious and full of love.

When we first asked my daughter what she wanted to do for her 5th birthday, she said a pool party, but being that she was born in December, that wasn't such a great option.  We wanted to do something different and active and since there is an amazing ski mountain less than 15 minutes from our home that offers snow tubing we suggested that idea.  She took to it immediately.  And it didn't take long for me to imagine the perfect party cake to go along.

This cake recipe is one passed down from my mom, with the exception of the whole wheat flour that I always have to add at least a little of.  It is a basic cake recipe: moist, decadent, delicious and easy to make in all shapes and sizes.  I have listed all of the different baking times depending on what shape cake you need to make as I have made it numerous ways myself.  The frosting I used this time was made purely out of cream cheese (no butter) because I wanted it as white (and snowlike) as possible.  I think the dark vanilla extract I added yellowed it a bit and maybe next time, if I ever need to emulate snow again, I will use clear almond extract instead.  I used a lot of cream cheese because I needed a lot of frosting, but only one box of confectioners sugar.  Hence the frosting was really gooey and soft and I am sure adding another 1/2 or full (1 pound) box would stiffen it up a bit, but being health conscious I figured one pound of sugar was enough.  And it worked out fine regardless.

Below are the recipes as well as step by step images of what I did to create my daughter's delicious cake.  I also included a few other cake designs I have done in the past, often using the same basic chocolate cake recipe.  So please, instead of using a box, or ordering a cake from your local store (unless it is a wonderful small business you wish to support) try this recipe the next time you are in need of a birthday cake worth celebrating.

Italian Beef Stew

Italian Beef Stew

On a snowy and freezing cold day like today, with time inevitably spent outside shoveling and plowing away half a foot of snow, it is nice to come back inside and smell a delicious dinner cooking all on its own.  I usually don't like cooking beef and thought about making this stew with just vegetables and beans, but the organic vegetables at the store yesterday were not very plentiful or fresh looking.  I only used a pound of organic stew meat, which cost me less than $5, so this dish is not only deliciously flavorful, but economical as well. It does take a bit of time to cook, with a few steps in the process, but the actual effort is pretty minimal. It will make your house smell amazing, while providing you and your family (and probably a few more people) with a nutritious, high protein, hearty meal.  Sure to warm you up when the temperature outside is anything but!

Chocolate Almond Fudge Drops

Chocolate Almond Fudge Drops

This cookie is about as simple, and delicious, as you can get.  With only five, mostly healthy ingredients it is a no brainer to throw together and yet it tastes like something from a gourmet candy shop.  I got the inspiration from a recipe I found in Oprah magazine that listed just sugar, peanut butter and eggs as the ingredients and I plan to try a peanut butter version of this soon as well.  The cookies seem very gooey when they first come out of the oven, but they solidify nicely and can be stored in an air tight container in the fridge for days if they last that long.

* I made a double batch of these for a party a few weeks after the original post, but I didn't have quite enough almond butter... only about 1 2/3 cups instead of the 2 cups I needed.  So in order to thicken up the dough I added an additional 1/4 cup dark cocoa and 1/2 cup organic sugar.  They tasted just as amazing.