Tomorrow is the Little Guy’s birthday. He’ll be seven. He wanted to come on 9/11 but the nurses and doctors said it was a terrible day to be born and that we should “go home and come back tomorrow”. So, very obediently, he stopped whatever it was he was doing and started up again in the morning. That’s just the kind of guy he is. And, the truth is, our little family was not so adversely affected by what happened that horrible day because we were just so glad that our Little Guy came safely into the world after three life-threatening traumas during pregnancy, a risky delivery (he came three weeks early) and a few more life threatening situations within the first 24 hours of life.
Because of the Little Guy, we were solely focused on life while the rest of the world was focused on, ahem, death. So, we have the Little Guy to thank for many things, his large and thickly-lashed eyes being but one of them.
The trouble is that the Little Guy wants a blue cake with flowers on it, "lots of flowers". What’s a mother to do? Of course, I want him to be in touch with his feminine side. It will make him a better father and husband. I really believe that. (I really do!) Still, I can’t help but think, later on, during those awkward teenage years, he might be embarrassed by his flowery cake. So, we’re going to do it Mom’s way. (We always do it Mom’s way but this situation was much better justified than some of the others, don’t you think?) Because I have been audibly salivating over this cake for over a month now, this is the one I am making:
but without the chocolate curls. We are going to add a bit of blue frosting on top, sprinkle flower shaped sprinkles on top of that and on top of THAT we are going to put some great little hot rod cars. Yes? Yes!
Now, this is a Paula Deen recipe so that means there are 4 cups of heavy cream and tons of butter and chocolate required. It is a six layer cake made, of course, from scratch, with chocolate mousse between each layer and the frosting is not just chocolate, it’s chocolate fudge. I can either follow the recipe as outlined or use the following products to achieve the same affect.
And yes, I can see that the frosting pictured is "fluffy white", not chocolate. The chocolate frosting was taking the day off. Or got eaten. Or something. Tune in tomorrow for a picture of the final cake. How will it compare to Paula's? I think we can pretty much safely say, not so good, but if the Little Guy is happy, so am I.