Cakes for Mark.

I do not shy away from cake baking. After a few incidents years ago left me with dry, tasteless cakes, I set out on a mission to learn the craft. I slowly purchased the requisite cake bakery supplies, stocked up on ingredients, cookbooks, recipes, and watched countless youtube videos to learn technique. Now I bake a cake every couple of months - some good, some so-so, but I save the truly deliciously fattening cakes for marks birthday. It is an exciting time for all of us when his birthday rolls around. I am a huge Smitten Kitchen nerd and I get most of my winning recipes from her these days. She really speaks my language. 

First birthday cake (year 30): Classic yellow cake with chocolate sour cream frosting. Recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

Second birthday cake (year 31): Banana split cake: Banana cake with chocolate ganache, sliced bananas, whipped cream, walnuts and maraschino cherries. Recipe from Epicurious.



Third birthday cake (year 32): Apple cake with caramel drizzle. Recipe for cake from Smitten Kitchen. For the caramel drizzle: 1 part butter, 1 part brown sugar, 1/4 part milk, heat in saucepan for 3-5 minutes, let thicken, then drizzle onto cake. The best part about this cake so far is that it is even better the second day, which happens to be today. Win!

And just for good measure, another Smitten Kitchen cakes I made for my sisters birthday:

Dobos Torte (this one was so good!)