Happy Birthday

 

 

So....can you guess what today is???  

I know it is Thirst Thursday for the rest of the world, but for me, it is the day that I came into this world with a lopsided head, which I was no doubt screaming off! (Guarantee my mother will have some commentary on that later!)  

So what am I doing for my birthday???  Well, I'm working.  Yeah.  BUT, I am taking the two days after off!  So really, after I leave work in the morning, I'm giving myself a four day weekend.  Not a bad gift!!  I am not 100% certain what the day holds...as I am getting over being sick, I hope it involves relaxing in some way...but one thing I can tell you is that I will be eating birthday cake...and a lot of it!  Wanna know why?  Great.  Its because the other gift I am giving myself is a cake.  And not just any cake, no, no...I am giving myself my FAVORITE CAKE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!

Why is it my favorite cake in the whole wide world?

Well, its because it is so dear to my heart.  It is a cake that my grandmother, who I lost barely a month ago, used to make it for me all the time.  All I had to do was ask.  And I always asked when it was my birthday.  This cake is absolutely, hands down, one of my favorite foods.  And that's why.  And also, it tastes AMAZING!!  AND...I spoke to my dear, sweet grandfather the other day (he sang Happy Birthday to me, and it made me cry.  It was never my birthday until grandma called to sing Happy Birthday.  He had to sing it to me early because he has to have a CT Scan and didn't want to miss it...and seriously, even as I write this my eyes are getting misty.  Anyhow, I thought it was so sweet that he even remembered!!)  and this cake was always one of his favorites too.  I promised him a visit and a great big end piece (yes, that is totally possible on a round cake!), so I am looking forward to some day after celebrating with him too!!

So celebrate with me...its the last year of my thirties, so I want to make it a good one!!

Seven Layer Three Layer Cake

You can see the three layers as I frost it!

Happiness baked in a cake!

Yum...I have no pictures of a slice because won't be slicing it until Thursday evening after my birthday dinner!!!!  I promise to show you some afterward!

Cake Ingredients

9 eggs Separated

10 tablespoons granulated sugar

10 tablespoons cake flour

Cake Directions

Beat 9 egg yolks until well mixed.  Add 2 tablespoons at a time of sugar.  Beat until thick.  Fold in flour.

Beat 9 egg whites until stiff, not dry; fold into mixed batter.

Bake at 325 degrees F for about 30 minutes (check often after 20 minutes) in 3 9-inch, well greased and floured cake pans.  Remove from pans immediately when done to cool.

Frosting Ingredients

1 bar German Sweet Chocolate

1/2 pound Sweet Butter (UNSALTED)

1 cup Sifted Powdered Sugar

1 egg yolk

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting Directions

Melt 1 bar of German Sweet Chocolate.  Cream together 1/2 pound of butter and sifted powdered sugar.  Add and mix well egg yolk.  Add walnuts and vanilla; fold in melted chocolate.  

Refrigerate icing if it is too runny to spread.  Refrigerate cake once frosted.

So, you have to keep it refrigerated because the frosting will melt.  I love it cold right out of the fridge.  I break off the frosting of an especially cold piece and save it for last (the frosting is always my favorite part of the cake...no matter the cake!).  So that is one way of eating it...or you could let it warm up a bit, so that the frosting doesn't break and is smooth and enjoy it the way it is supposed to be enjoyed - you know...all together!

AND...what's with the name?  Well, traditionally, this is a cake with seven thin layers.  Grandma had five kids and didn't have time to mess around with seven thin layers, so it became the seven layer three layer cake. And...another little story about this cake...my grandma's birthday was March 23.  A few years ago, Easter was super early and it fell on her 80th birthday.  I wanted to do something extra special for her - her Parkinson's was really getting to be a nuisance and she couldn't really bake much.  I made her this cake.  And don't even think it was easy, either.  You really do need to get CAKE FLOUR - not all purpose - because it doesn't rise right and its too chewy and dense.  So it took a couple of tries.  But I did it.  She loved it.  I am glad that I was able to give back to her the wonderful goodness she always gave to me!  And I have to say, I think she was with me while I baked this cake on Wednesday morning...NEVER in my life has a cake I have made come out so perfectly.  I have never gotten a cake out of the pan without it breaking all over the place and then having to fill in the holes with frosting.  Its perfect.  Absolutely perfect.  

AND....for those of you that come here on Thursdays looking to get drunk, I think I found an appropriate cocktail...

Birthday Cake Cocktail

1/3 Malibu® coconut rum

1/3 vanilla vodka

1/3 lemonade

Mix it all.

That actually sounds DELICIOUS!!  I might have to have one!!

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And now, a lovely moment of zen... 

SWOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!