A Birthday Cake for Mom

Hi Mom.

I know you'd probably prefer I celebrate your birthday with fewer carbs and a little less sugar. I could've made a nice salad with steak and quinoa, topped with some strawberries (good idea, we'll revisit that one). If you were going to eat a cake, you would've preferred carrot. But I thought something new could be fun.

Dusted with cocoa powder

So instead, we have a perfectly moist chocolate cake topped with peanut butter frosting, not too sweet, but salty, with crunchy little granules of sugar. And I drove it down to Tarpon to surprise you and eat dinner by the sponge docks. Happy birthday, Mom.

This makes me weirdly aware of how rarely I take horizontal pictures

Fun fact: I'm a terrible example as a baker, which means I don't actually measure ANYTHING. Unless I'm making something really finicky, I kind of just eyeball everything. Oops. It's worked out so far.

Chocolate Cake and Peanut Butter Frosting
cake
I used this recipe

frosting
1 stick salted butter
2/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1. Microwave the butter and peanut butter for 45 seconds. The butter will be pretty much all melted, and the peanut butter will be stir-able.
2. Stir in both sugars and the salt until smooth.
3. Spread on cooled cake or eat with a spoon. Enjoy.