Baking Recipes,  Monthly round-up

My Birthday Lazybones Syndrome

You guys, it’s my birthday today! I wish I could be vacationing somewhere nice and cold for the day (Kyoto anyone?) but since this is real life– and it’s a Wednesday no less– I’m sitting in front of my computer at work. (Don’t worry, I’m not slacking off. This is a pre-written, pre-scheduled post haha!)

When January came around I was already playing around with cake ideas for this year. See, every time I make my birthday cake I like to make it a combination of my own favourite flavours with that of my co-celebrator, my brother younger by 5 years– Jason. Those of you who have followed my birthday cake blogging through the years probably already know he was born on the same month and day as I.

Happy birthday to us!!!



It was very hard to decide because there were A LOT of cakes and flavours I wanted to do, as usual, but then one morning I woke up and said to myself, ‘You know what? You don’t have to make your cake this year. Just relax for once!’ It’s like I’m taking a birthday leave from baking my own cake this year haha! 

We’re probably going to just buy a cake from somewhere later in the day so Jason and I can sing and blow candles and make a wish. 😉

So with that decision made I thought I’d just make a little post about all my favourite birthday-worthy cakes and cupcakes I’ve made so far. I’ve made them for birthdays and given them as gifts so they’ve been tried and tested.

CAKES

At first I was thinking about just including birthday cake recipes in this list, but then again I’ve had the pleasure of making cupcakes (and a cheesecake) that I feel could hold their own in any birthday party too!


Let’s start with one of my absolute favourite cakes. (It’s my most famous post too!) This Ombré Cake is absolutely stunning, but the taste is probably the real star of the show. Moist and rich yellow cakes frosted with a dreamy Salted Butter Icing that is both a marvel to work with and tastes just rightly sweet. I wouldn’t be surprised if you made this every year in different colours!


These Chocolate Beer Batter Cupcakes with Maple-Bacon Frosting are one of my favourite cupcakes ever! Dark and moist chocolate cupcakes spiked with stout beer, topped with a maple-bacon frosting. Just reading that makes you want to eat it, doesn’t it?! And yes, these were inspired by Max’s Cupcakes from Two Broke Girls. 🙂


This Red Velvet-Cheesecake Layer Cake is a product of many wonderful things, starting from the lemon cheesecake which has such a pleasant tang to it. The red velvet cake is so fragrant and moist, but with a firmness to it that makes the layers easy to handle. The cream cheese frosting is not too sweet and it’s one of the easiest one could ever make. This cake is lovely in both looks and taste!


Last year’s birthday cake really hit the spot in terms of combining our favourite flavours– lemon and chocolate. This Lemon Layer Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting features one of the best lemon cakes I’ve ever had paired with a very sweet, very fluffy chocolate frosting.


This was my first angel food cake and boy what a cake it was! This Lime Angel Food Cake with Lime Glaze was all the tangy perfection I was hoping for and more!


Though not quite dressy a cake as the others I’ve shown above, this Bahamian Rum Cake is indubitably one of the best I’ve made. Big thanks goes to David Lebovitz for developing this beautiful coconut cake drenched in both coconut-rum syrup and caramel-rum glaze.


These Rainbow Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are not only pretty, they taste pretty too! Essentially a rainbow-fied vanilla-buttermilk cupcake base with the never-failing cream cheese frosting spread on top to look like clouds.


Probably my mother’s favourite homemade cupcake to date, these Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting hit all the right notes. Deliciously moist and deeply chocolate-y, these cupcakes are sweetened by bananas and glorious Nutella frosting.


The levelled up version of the above cupcakes perhaps? These Nutella Surprise Cupcakes are rich, chocolatey, not too sweet, with a gorgeous and moist crumb. The frosting is a smooth and satisfying sweet hit of Nutella. People will love finding the Ferrero Rocher surprise inside!


The sad part about my making this was how much I overbaked the cakes, otherwise this Yellow Layer Cake with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting would have been perfect! The yellow cake base has such great flavour. Coupled with the slightly sour, slightly tangy, deliciously chocolatey frosting, it tasted so good! (Just don’t go overbaking!)


More of a cheesecake type of person? Well this here Irish Cream Chocolate Cheesecake is probably my favourite cheesecake of all time! Eating this is a bit like taking shots of Bailey’s Irish Cream, only in a solid, silky form. I love that the cream cheese and chocolate add this great sweet-and-salty play in your mouth.


This Simple But Amazing Carrot Cake is a delicious classic that never ever fails in my book. And this version is so easy and flavourful you just might want to make it your go-to last-minute cake recipe!


And there you go! Some of my favourite cakes to date. You just can’t go wrong with any of these. 🙂

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