My daughter turned two on Wednesday. TWO!!! I can't believe it's been two years, it's no joke when they say that time flies by too fast when they are this young. She's 2 going on about 10 though because she thinks she's so cool. I'm not gonna lie, she's pretty effing cool. For her first bday John and I really did it up. We had a huge party and invited everyone. It was outside and it was freezing and so windy. April is so unpredictable. So, this year we decided to go low key and just have a little something at the house for her. Just a few friends and family. Of course I still went ape when it came to baking for this shindig. I was just gonna make a cake- but then I realized I gave all the cupcakes in the house away and didn't have one for her in the morning. John and I like to wake her up with a cupcake with a candle and let her open her presents. Since I gave all the cupcakes away I had to bake some more. I went with a simple Coconut Angel Cake-
2 cups AP flour
4 egg whites
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cups shredded coconut
Bakes at 350 for 20 minutes- I used my whipped frosting recipe and dyed it some fun colors!
Charlotte was so cute with the candle. She really understood it was her birthday- 2 is awesome! She also tore it up with her gifts which we loved watching. Christmas will be hilarious this year. After she shredded her gifts open and had half a cupcake for breakfast, we had a really fun day. She got all dressed up and I took her to the jumpy castle- I don't think that's what it's really called. It's in our mall and it has all these air castles and play areas for kids. It was a really nasty, rainy day, so I figured that'd be perfect for her. She ran around and then we came home for lunch and then she napped for about 3 1/2 hours! That's crazy long for her. It was sort of great though b/c it gave me time to work on her birthday cake.
She is OBSESSED with Dora the Explorer! So my mission was to make her a Dora cake. I dyed my frosting purple and used like a jungle green to write on it. I also picked up little sugar Dora decals to put on the cake. I went with a Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake. Sounds weird right? It's one of the most moist cakes I've ever made.- Here is the recipe:
2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cups mayonnaise
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cream together the water, sugar and mayo, add in the rest of the ingredients and beat till well blended- Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
I ended up having to make 2 cakes b/c after the first one was done, it just wasn't big enough so I ended up doing a layered cake. It was so delicious and was devoured at her party!
I also made a Charlotte Russe. This is a really old fashioned dessert. It's like a Mouse with Lady Fingers. Technically it should be done in a spring form pan I think but I love my triffle dish and its so much easier this way. I decided that b/c my daughter's name is Charlotte, she deserves a dessert with her name every year on her birthday so this is my little tradition that I want to have every year. I had a little trouble with this one, not gonna lie. I don't remember it being that difficult when I made it last year. then again, last year I made it at night in my kitchen with Morgan and we were tipsy just chatting away so maybe it was difficult and I was just too tipsy to care. You have to cook eggs and sugar over a double boiler and make a custard- it's pretty time consuming- It's a lengthy process so I'm not gonna post the recipe but if any one would like it, please let me know.
The birthday party was a success! Bean had a blast and her friends did too. I think my favorite part of the nite was after singing happy birthday, I went in the kitchen to cut the cake and Charlotte and her two besties came running after me to get some- absolutely adorable. I can't wait for more birthday parties and get together's like this. Having everyone together to celebrate such an important day meant so much and makes you realize what's important in life. Cheers to our sweet little girl, Charlotte Grace. Mom and Pop love you!! XO
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