365 Days of Thankfulness: Birthday Cake

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Today is one of the busiest days of my December. I've been up and about early in the morning. The sole of my feet hurt so much from standing all day. And I kind of pretty clumsy too. I cut myself twice. I splattered myself with oil while cooking. 

Cooking is usually part of daily routine and is not the reason why I feel like I physically labored all day. Today, I decorated my very first birthday cake!

I've been practicing baking chocolate cake since the lock down. Been on the hunt for a perfect, not too sweet chocolate cake recipes out there but nothing really suits my little girl's taste. She likes a good cake bread - moist, not too sweet with a little or no frosting at all. I did some adjustments of the recipes here and there, cut down some sugar, did a mix of dark and semi-sweet chocolate to tone down the sweetness, added hot water with melted coffee granules on it to intensify the chocolatey flavor. And she loves it! She can finish the whole slice and she will even ask for more!

Today, I realized I can make a deliciously tasting cake but when it comes to decorating, I suck. In my mind, I had a picture of a beautiful cake with all the drippings and floret tips. What happened? I tried, I failed, I decided to stick to a simplest doable decoration I can do. I suspect my problem lies in my lack of patience and of complete lack of artistic talent. 

BUT! Regardless of many mishaps I had today, the frosting ooze and the struggle of salvaging runny frostings, and combating the horrendous, beastly messes of the baking aftermath -- I am so happy and thankful of how my cake turned out.

So here's the fruit of my labor today, I aimed for a rustic look, achieved! And the sprinkles did the trick! I am pretty sure, some little girl's heart will be so much happy tomorrow on her birthday.



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