bday stands for birthdays and baptisms

i had the privilege of witnessing the baptism of my 2nd daughter and two of her cousins tonite. it was also my father's and my husband's birthday. what a delight to have so many blessings in one day. to celebrate, we did up the girlie's hair in a do that would be "dunk proof" and look nice to and we made the most wonderful 3-layer "death-by-chocolate" cake.










this style was called Elizabethan hair taping by the lady who gave the tutorial. we tried her version of the dutch crown which turned out lovely, but her hair wasn't quite thick enough at the bottom to make it look even on both sides. the taping is also much easier and there are no pesky pins to poke you in the head or fall out. my daughter has been wearing this "do" all week and has little loss of hair from the braids (a few fuzzies here and there).







Elizabethan hair taping video:


Dutch crown videos:





now, this lucious piece of art came from a recipe i found online at a site called Mom's Who Think
the frosting recipe is actually the ganache recipe that i used for my donut birthday cake.




Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups boiling water
1 cup (2 sticks) butter softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs at room temperature
2 3/4 cups all purpose (unbleached) flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. preheat oven to 350°F. grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans.

2. in a medium bowl, stir the boiling water into the cocoa until smooth, and set aside.

3. in a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and set aside.

4. at medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 4 to 5 minutes.

5. add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

6. turn mixer down to low speed. add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

7. stir in the vanilla, and do not over-beat.

8. pour an equal amount of batter into each of the three prepared pans.

9. bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

10. cool in pans set on racks for 10 minutes. invert pans on racks, remove pans, and allow layers to cool completely before frosting.

NOTE: if your cakes are not flat (level) then i would recommend frosting one layer and putting it into the fridge to chill for a bit to prevent the layers from slipping off. i used toothpicks, but this probably isn't preferable for public presentation.