Cake for Two
Hi dear readers! First and foremost, I’d like to start off this post by wishing my sweet Miss Siona Mae a very happy birthday. Yep, another year has gone by and the kiddo is 2. I’m kind of shocked at what we’ve gone through together in the last 2 years. We’ve traveled to Montana, North Carolina, Kentucky, New Jersey, California, and a few other states I’m probably forgetting. We’ve had to say good-bye to her great grandmother while also meeting some of my oldest, dearest friends. She’s learned how to walk, talk, swim, sing, feed herself, and ask for what she wants (while remembering her manners . . . most of the time). She’s obsessed with Pharrel, sand and and the color purple (the actual color, not the book or movie. Give her time people). Forgive the extra layer of cheese with this paragraph, but I’m just so proud to be her mom.
WOW
My favorite picture of all time — in our custom-made Jewhungry aprons. The face she has is too much.
Ok, quick update before getting into this delicious guest post by the incredibly talented Molly Yeh of, My Name is Yeh. When last we spoke, we were gearing up for husband to go back to Florida. Well, the band-aid has been ripped off and he is officially back in Miami. Saying good-bye was ROUGH. I did my very best to keep the tears from flowing so that I could appear somewhat strong for the kiddo, but once we were outside and waiting for the Super Shuttle to arrive, the tears just came. I wrestled with how I should present myself for the sake of the kiddo for so long. Should I hold back the tears and stay ‘strong’ for her so that it wouldn’t freak her out to see mommy upset or should I just let go and let flow? Ultimately, what I realized was that it didn’t matter what I ‘decided’ was the best course of action for in that moment, I was going to feel what I was going to feel. I want Siona to know that it’s OK to feel things, ALL things, whether good or bad. I want her to know that emotions are not something to be ashamed of but rather, it’s what we do with our emotions that truly makes the moment. And so, some tears came down and I explained why I was sad and where the tears were coming from, and then we immediately marched ourselves right upstairs to our neighbors apartment so that Siona could play with her bestie and mama could have a big ol’ glass of wine. We now fill our days with lots of phone calls and FaceTime (I love technology). I truly don’t know how folks existed before FaceTime. I really don’t (**this post was in no way sponsored by Apple. I just really, really appreciate technology).
A family portrait taken in the forests of Limekiln State Park
My mom is in town now to help and I’ve had to hire a babysitter for a couple hours a day to take care of Siona during this time that I’m at work and her school is still not in session. I keep thinking about good ol’ Hilary Clinton’s message about how it takes a village to raise a child. One never really understands how true that statement is until you move, leave your established village behind and realize that the only way you’re going to survive is to hire a village. We’re in the beginning stages of this temporary single-parent situation and I’m balancing the emotions of panic and guilt. How fun! Guilt for every time I walk out the door to go to work and leave her with a babysitter and panic because I work at a school and there are back to school nights and parent luncheons and grade-level trips and how the @#*$ am I supposed to do all that when it’s just me? I miss my Miami village. I miss my hubby.
my heart.
But, enough of that. There’s a cake to get to! An adorable cake made by Molly Yeh! If you’re living in a cave (albeit with amazing WiFi because you’re reading this post) and you’ve never heard of Molly Yeh before, let me please introduce you to her. She’s got more charm in her pinky finger than I could ever hope to dream for. She’s a Juliard-trained percussionist, recently engaged to her egg boy (MAZAL TOV!) and lives on his family’s farm in North Dakota. She also happens to be incredibly talented in the art of baking/cooking and photography. We became modern-day pen pals when she wrote a comment on my shakshuka post and I couldn’t breathe all day because Molly Yeh had read my blog! I decided I should write to say ‘thank you for reading’ and several months later I got the balls to ask her if she’d write a guest post for my beloved Siona’s 2nd birthday. To no surprise at all, because she’s that selfless, she said yes! Below is her birthday cake for Siona. It seems like such a yummy, user-friendly recipe I might actually attempt it myself. Happy birthday to my Siona and thank you Miss Molly.
TO ASSEMBLE: You could do anything you want. You could spread the frosting on the cake and call it a day. This would be the easiest way. You could wrap the cake in plastic wrap and freeze it for an hour, and then either cut three equal rectangles or use a 2-3 inch biscuit cutter to cut out small round layers and frost in between them, for a little layer cake. Or if you’re wanting a challenge, you could do what I did and wrestle with a simplified miniature version of momofuku’s birthday cake. (the steps are here, under “birthday layer cake” http://milkbarstore.com/main/press/recipes-and-how-tos/). I subbed a biscuit cutter for the cake ring, parchment for the acetate, and omitted the cake soak and crumbs.
*taking a cue from Momofuku’s birthday cake recipe, I prefer Mmccormick’s clear imitation vanilla because of the nostalgic flavor that’s reminiscent of a boxed cake. It’s silly, I know, but taste it and you’ll see what i mean. you can of course use all-natural vanilla instead.
a necessary last step: sprinkles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ingredients
- FOR THE CAKE:
- 7 tb cake flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- a pinch of kosher salt
- 2 tb butter, softened
- 1/4 c sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla*
- 1 tb vegetable oil
- 2 tb whole milk
- 1/4 c sprinkles, optional
- FOR THE FROSTING:
- 6 tb butter, softened
- 1/2 c powdered sugar, or more to taste
- a splash of vanilla*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Grease and line the bottom of a small loaf pan with parchment. i use a tapered loaf pan that is 6 inches by 4 inches at the bottom.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until combined. whisk in the egg, vanilla, and oil.
- Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until combined. add the milk. if using sprinkles, gentle fold them in.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan. i highly recommend using a cake strip (an easy diy one here: http://www.thepancakeprincess.com/2013/03/15/how-to-bake-level-cake-layers-diy-cake-strips/#comment-84116) since this recipe is so small—you don’t want to have to level any off.
- Bake for 12-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. let cool for a few minutes in the pan and then turn onto a cooling rack.
- To make the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until creamy (See the very top of recipe for assembly instructions).
