Happy Birthday Neal!

Friday (May 22nd), was Neal's 28th Birthday! Happy Birthday baby! He took the day off to stay home and celebrate with Sophie and I and we were so glad to have him here. Sophie has been uber obsessed with Daddy lately so it was an extra treat Friday morning when she said, "Daddy's going to work" and Neal chimed in, "No, Daddy's staying home today because it's his birthday!"

Sophie came bounding into our rooming bright and early and awoke Neal with a, "Happy Birthday Daddy", she has been waiting all week for it to be his birthday and has been singing "Happy Birthday to Daddy" all week and all day today. We made him a cake yesterday of which she helped make, I also made a Blueberry Oatmeal Cake for breakfast this morning (baked and chilled overnight so it was all ready for us this morning), so when I told her we were having blueberry cake for breakfast she got super excited and thought we were having the actual birthday cake for breakfast, a two year old can dream can't she?

We had a pretty lazy day, took our time getting showered and dressed and then headed off to downtown Belmont to walk around and grab some lunch. We had a good ole' Southern Style lunch at a little cafe, Cherubs, operated by the Holy Angels. They also have a Candy Bouquet next door and both establishments provide vocational training and meaningful supported employment options for individuals with mental retardation. It was a good lunch for a good cause.

I was really impressed with the way my cake turned out so I thought I would share the recipe with anyone who might want to try a good made from scratch cake instead of those preservative filled, all around bad for you boxed cake mixes.

Yellow Cake

Preheat oven to 375

3/4 cup butter
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups milk

In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl or mixer beat butter on high for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Alternately add the flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture.

Bake in 375 oven in greased and flour pan(s). 20-25 minutes for 9 inch pans, 30-35 minutes for 8 inch pans, 25-30 minutes for a 13x9x2 inch pan.

Butter Cream Frosting

1 stick of butter
1 box of powdered sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons of milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Cream butter until fluffy. Sift in sugar and continue to cream until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla and blend completely.

***Tip**** Use very, very soft butter or allow your frosting to sit out at room temp for a while before frosting, this will ensure that you will get the smoothest, easiest frosting application.

I had the best result with this cake this time around when, after frosting the completely cooled cakes, I placed the cake on cake stand, covered, in the fridge over night. My result a very moist, dense delicious cake!

Also wanted to share the fabulous blueberry cake recipe I found on one of my favorite blogger sites, Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Blueberry Oatmeal Cake
serves 6

1 1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup non-fat milk
1 egg
1 3/4 cups frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in to a medium mixing bowl. Stir in oatmeal.

In a separate bowl, combine milk and egg and whisk until well combined. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture until combined, then add the blueberries, stirring to incorporate.

Pour mixture into a 9-inch round non-stick baking dish.

Bake 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden and the cake is cooked through. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack. Chill in the fridge, until ready to eat. I recommend chilling overnight.

Cut into wedges to serve.

Dancing with Daddy after breakfast.

Strategically placing the candles.

Patiently waiting for her piece of cake.