Birthday Cake

Today is Rich's birthday. We didn't do too much this year. Between work and work and all that life stuff that we have to deal with, making a big to do mid week was undesirable. At the same time, I'm a fan of actually doing something special to commemorate a birthday, so I asked Rich what he wanted for dinner. And he promptly replied, "Pizza!"

We've been having fun with pizza over the last couple of weeks. Since the Superbowl, so really just the last two weeks. And yet, somehow, it has become something that both Rich and Drew love and aside from the time to heat the pizza stone, they're pretty fast and easy.

So I said, sure, why not, and made some pizza dough last night. Since I knew today would run long at work, I decided that having the dough already made and just needing to come up to room temperature would be a good thing. So I made the Wolfgang Puck dough and decided it was time to try the Peter Reinhart recipe, too. That way, I knew I'd have pizza, but there was also a chance for some really good pizza. Anyhow, read the next blog to read about the pizza.

Meanwhile, during the day, yesterday, while I was working from home, I baked a surprise birthday cake for Rich. Rich loves coconut cake. I'm not a huge fan, myself, but hey, it's his birthday. The recipe I wanted to try required a rather obscure ingredient, dried/powdered coconut milk. Kind of a cool ingredient, unfortunately, no one carries it anywhere near me, and since I couldn't wait for a King Arthur delivery, I was stuck. So I decided to try a Paula Deen recipe for coconut cake.

The components went pretty well. I made the cake, which turned out lovely and flat, thanks to the Magic Cake Strips that Gary got me years ago for a birthday or Christmas. The glaze was a little less successful in that I felt it was kind of watery and not all that great. I like light and fluffy cakes, and soaking light and fluffy cake with glaze is a crime in my book. But it was the first time I made the recipe, and I tend to stick to the directions the first time around, so I glazed. And then I made Seven Minute Frosting, which was a gorgeously fluffy marshmallow style frosting. I will definitely be using that frosting recipe again. Even after a full 24 hours in the fridge, it is deliciously spreadable and not at all grainy.

And voila! Coconut cake!







I was quite pleased with the visual effect. It looked pretty darn good. The frosting held the shredded coconut nicely and blended really well.

So I put the top on my cake carrier and hid the cake in the fridge...camouflaged with a Diet Pepsi box.



Then I immediately emailed the above pictures to Michelle and Rich's mom, Gail, so that I could show it off enough that I wouldn't feel compelled to show the cake to Rich that day. I'm kind of terrible about secrets like that when I want to show it off and the recipient to immediately enjoy whatever the surprise holds.

Today, after dinner, Drew helped me with the birthday and we presented a lovely lit up cake to Rich.



After Rich blew out his candles, Drew started sniffling that he didn't get to help blow out candles, so we re-lit the blue one so Drew could blow it out.



After a few seconds of blubbering which was unsucessful in the blowing out of the candle, I had to put myself out of my misery and blow out the candle for him without telling him. It was just getting too gross.







The verdict? Not bad. The cake came out of the fridge quite dense. It surprised me when I sliced into it. The glaze stuff really solidifies things up. It tasted pretty good. Not particularly coconut-y, from my perspective, but not really my cup of tea. Rich seemed to like it. He agreed that the frosting was the best part. And was more optimistic that at room temperature, the cake might be less dense. Ultimately, he decided it was worth repeating, so it will go into the book.

Apparently Rich thought I had purchased the cake at the store. I was insulted and had to teach him that anything on the cake carrier tray meant that I'd made it, not bought it. And that since it was the first time he'd said that, I'd let it go. Now, he's been warned.