OMG Chocolate Cake!
Sunday was my dear friend Britta's birthday. She didn't make a big deal of it, but since a bunch of us were gathering at her house Monday night to watch The Princess Bride at her backyard cinema on the new projection screen we all chipped in to get her, we decided to bake her a cake. I used my Ultimate Chocolate Cake recipe with lots and lots of Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. I got really fancy this time and split the two layers to make it a 4 layer cake. The same amount of cake, but more frosting per piece!
Because it was a cake for Britta, hostess extraordinaire and wonderful mentor to Kaelyn, we wanted it to be extra special. The girls helped decorate it, taking lots of ideas from Chef Duff and the gang at Charm City Cakes (you know, from Ace of Cakes). First we added gel food coloring to white fondant to get Britta's signature shade of teal, then we dusted it with pearl dusting powder, a blend of blue and green to match the color of the fondant. Kaelyn piped most of the decoration. I added the Happy Birthday script and Kaelyn piped her own special message and the kitty picture. We were quite proud of our creation and I thought it was delicious.
The gathering Chez Britta was an unqualified success. Tons of people showed up, and we enjoyed good food and a lovely, if slightly silly, showing of The Princess Bride. Yes, yes, we all know most of the lines. It was a fitting way to celebrate Britta's birthday.
It's hard to believe that the month of July has almost passed. The summer has flown by. Still, it has been filled with lots of wonderful times. I have enjoyed having extra time to spend with the big girls and with Ellie too. We've spent lots of time up at the stable with Robbie, our horse. We've also had a lovely time just hanging out at home.
Ellie at six months is over 27" tall and 18 lbs. She's almost crawling, but is far more interested in walking. She cruises with assistance and can walk quite a ways when someone is holding her hands. Her hair is so long now that most days we put it up into a little Pebbles spike on her head. She is more beautiful and amazing each day.
I can't show you what I've been knitting. It's a new design being cooked up for an online magazine. Until it's finished my FLS is sadly tucked away in the WIP bin. I haven't even carried any other knitting around with me, as my deadline is fast approaching and I still have sleeves to finish. Better get back to that....
Oh, she is such a cutie!
Hey! Do you all want to come up around crush time? It's kinda fun to watch the grapes being smooshed. :)
Posted by: Romi | July 30, 2008 at 08:35 PM
I hope I'm not breaking blog protocol, but I'm the marketing director at Mrs. Grossman's and we want fans of Duff Goldman to know that we've launched a series of completely cute stickers in collaboration with Charm City Cakes! They're great for all kinds of projects - you can check them out here:
http://www.mrsgrossmans.com
Click on “What’s New”
Thanks!
-Lara Starr
Marketing Director
Mrs. Grossman's
lstarr@mgpc.net
Posted by: Lara Starr | July 30, 2008 at 01:11 PM
Thank you all so much for such an extra-special birthday celebration! I am really touched and still smiling about your delicious and gorgeous cake that was obviously made with so much love! I am still amazed you guys matched my outfit PERFECTLY and it was even sparkly too...and believe me, I know how hard it is to get food coloring that vivid! I've been trying to save the cake for myself to enjoy, but there is only one slice left for tonight...too bad it's gone already!
Ellie is absolutely adorable, and she did so well during the movie too! Hooray for big & beautiful girls, since I think she's going to be a lovely Amazon like you & me... haha!
Posted by: Britta | July 30, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Wow, you and the girls did a fantastic job decorating the cake!
Posted by: Lisa | July 29, 2008 at 04:28 PM
Mmmmmmm chocolate cake. Need chocolate cake.
What a great photo of Ellie! But then again, what photo of Ellie isn't great? lol
Posted by: Janice | July 29, 2008 at 03:27 PM
Robert Frost knitting: "And miles to go before I sleeve. And miles to go before I sleeve."
Posted by: AlisonH | July 29, 2008 at 03:07 PM
I have a picture just like that of E.
18 pounds eh? No wonder my back hurt the other day.
Hope you are enjoying your time off and knitting (even if it is deadline knitting)
Posted by: Mari | July 29, 2008 at 10:03 AM