labor (day) of love

 I must admit, I had major preconceptions about how this summer would be, the one thing I did not take into account was how fast it would go. So, Labor day was upon us~and how is that I ask, how is it September already? Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated as the symbolic end of summer a day for relaxing, barbecues, parades, fireworks, birthdays- birthdays? that's right, my mom's birthday is the 4th and my sister's is the 2nd, sound like fun? You betcha! So with a holiday week-end and two birthdays it was clearly the time to bake...and it comes as no surprise that since I adore baking birthday cakes, the job was mine. So for our labor-day-mom's-birthday-susie's-birthday-celebration this past week-end, I came up with two cakes that I felt would be perfect.

For my mom I made a deep chocolate cake with peanut butter icing, kissed with chocolate ganache. I like the combination of flavors and how they play off of each other, the cake itself is kind of mishapen and a bit messy, sort of Paris chic [the culinary equivalent of  smudged eye liner and a messy ponytail].

 For my sister I made a pink princess cake...ever since I first saw a picture of it I have been wanting to make it. I think of cakes as being sort of like an outfit. The best ones tend to have an accessory or two to pull it together and make it stand out. This cake is like a white sun dress, which is nice by itself, but complimented by a strand of pink beads it is perfectly kittened up. I also love this cake because...it is fresh, light, strawberry-laced, and it's pink. It's good. The thing is, I perfectly fit the personality profile of a stereotypical pink-lover. My i- pod, cellphone, etc are bedazzled with swarovski crystals. I still wear tiaras even though I am no longer in grammar school {just kidding, or not}. So, yeah. I admit that pink definitely puts me in my happy place.



I know, it sounds like this was better suited to be my birthday cake, but the truth is, my sister and I pretty much love the same things, so I knew that if I liked it, so would she. So....... did she?

 Yep, definitely in a happy place!

Princess Cake

 

 (go here for recipe)