Friday, October 21, 2016

Birthday Cake with Weekend #LinkyParty

Welcome to my weekend blog hop -
Make My Saturday Sweet #194!


As many of you already know, Samantha turned 16 this month. My mom-in-law brought ice-cream, strawberries, and brownies through for the occasion. Amanda and I had baked a chocolate cake that we hadn't yet decorated, so we left it for the following day when we weren't all so full of good food and dessert.

I'm a fuss free kind of person, so here's a cake that tastes great and makes a statement without too much effort!

The cake we baked was a Devil's food cake and my favorite chocolate cake recipe from my New Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book that my mom gave me years ago. Since I don't have permission to use their recipe on my blog, I found a similar one that looks just as good on Epicurious. You're welcome to click on the links and these are not affiliate links.

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We iced the cake with chocolate whipping cream and spreadable caramel that we bought from the grocery store (it's the same thing as dulce de leche). Ours was a bit stiff, so I carefully warmed it in the microwave just enough to soften it. Alternatively, you can even skip the caramel and just use the whipping cream.

With one cup of whipping cream, we added roughly three tablespoons of icing sugar (powdered sugar) and three tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder and then we beat it with an electric mixer. You can add more of each as you like, but I didn't want the topping to overpower the other flavors and we don't like things too sweet.

Amanda helped me with the layers of caramel and cream. For the garnish, I grated white and milk chocolate, because Samantha doesn't eat dark chocolate. The finished cake is pictured at the top of this post. You can see what it looks like once sliced open in the very last photo.

If you do try it this weekend, let me know in the comments how it turned out.








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Make My Saturday Sweet is a weekend blog hop for all family friendly blogs. You are welcome to link your favorite post from the past week(s) and to visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment. It's a really easy and fun way to make new friends and to catch up on old acquaintances.

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Amanda’s Books and More

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Comments (11)

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How delicious that looks. Looks like your youngest is pretty good in the kitchen also. Such good skills to learn.
1 reply · active 443 weeks ago
Thanks, Maria! She has been the easiest of the children to work with in the kitchen. With the others, I had to anticipate what they might do to prevent a mishap. Amanda, on the other hand, is happy to wait for each instruction before jumping ahead. She's been helping me with baking for several years now and is a pro. The big sisters do all their own baking and prefer when I'm not around. LOL :D
My recent post Birthday Cake with Weekend #LinkyParty
Yum on the cake and boy, you guys really lucked out in the sweets department for a few days there, huh? Have a great weekend!
My recent post 31 Games - Snatch It
That cake looks so good! I bet it tasted as good as it looked too. :D Thanks so much for linking up over at Friday Frivolity too.
My recent post Friday Frivolity - Halloween Costumes
1 reply · active 443 weeks ago
Thanks, Jess, and thanks for co-hosting it! Your series of family Halloween costumes was funny. It's a neat idea to keep a record of what everyone wore to look back at. There isn't any trick-or-treating going on here, so I have to come up with creative ways to entertain Amanda, so she doesn't feel like she's completely missing out on that part of her heritage. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
My recent post Birthday Cake with Weekend #LinkyParty
That cookbook is also my old standby!
My recent post Each Day By Name
2 replies · active 443 weeks ago
Yay! It's a classic. ;) I wanted to let you know that I used your poem about the names in the Bible for our fellowship and for the guys at the drug rehab farm where Hubby and I share the Word of God. It's really been a blessing.
I just read your other poem that you linked. The number 6 is also the number of completion for me when everyone is home and seated at the table. I totally get it, how you felt. I guess that number will change for me too, when the kids get married. Can't wait to be a grandma! But, I'm not rushing things! ♥
Wishing you a blessed Sunday!
My recent post Birthday Cake with Weekend #LinkyParty
What an honor to be invited to "partner" with you and your family in ministry -- even though it's from a great distance!

Glad that we share that special number. Now the plate numbers change so fast, I have to count almost daily!

Blessings to you!
Hi! I'm new to your blog. I'm just beginning to link in with other blogs so I hope I got it right. Thank you for the opportunity to share. The cake looks yummy!
1 reply · active 443 weeks ago
Thanks, Kim, for linking up today! I do apologize that I'm using a free linky widget and it's not as cool as the ones that display an image. I'm sure you'll find your way around the blog hops quite easily and you did link up correctly! I just read your Cookie Girl post and your analogy. I joined my husband with his Bible class for a group of guys at a drug rehab farm this past Friday and heard about three guys who had fasted for two days and the breakthroughs that they experienced in their spiritual growth. I then shared with them about a time many years ago when I was fasting and being miserable about it and God pointed out to me that it was a privilege to fast and that I should change my perspective. Thanks for sharing and have a blessed weekend further!
My recent post Birthday Cake with Weekend #LinkyParty

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