It's My Birthday Too!

I CANNOT believe my little nephew is already ONE!! It seems like yesterday I was pacing at Panera waiting for the phone call that he had arrived! We had just moved to the Little Apple and I still didn't have internet access at home, thus I had to hang at Panera so I could send out the "He's Arrived" email to family and friends. My mom called from the delivery room and said, "can you hear your nephew crying?" - I am tearing up just thinking about it. Ah, he is such a HUGE blessing to our family!!

Happy First Birthday Favorite Nephew!! We traveled to California for his Cowboy birthday party - my sister did an amazing job! We had pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, coleslaw, watermelon, s'more pops, and snickerdoodle cupcakes! (BTW: my brother-in-law gets father of the year award because he scoured the internet and found bales of hay to set the cowboy scene! While that might not be difficult where I live, it was no easy feat in California!)

Aren't the cupcake toppers adorable?? The snickerdoodle cupcakes were AMAZING. My mom made them out of the "Cake Mix Doctor" cookbook which I own and have never used. Those days are over - not only did they come together quickly, but they were TO DIE FOR! They were moist and light and had just the right amount of cinnamon. My sister topped them with cinnamon butter cream - SO GOOD. I will be making these for our care group!!

Will got his very own giant cupcake - he went nuts! There was a ton left over, so he got a part two of cake eating because Auntie Meg messed up and forgot to press "record" on the video camera...I felt terrible. We did re-record and he loved it. I think he is a frosting man like his mama!

Snickerdoodle Cake
Serves 16

Ingredients
Solid vegetable shortening for greasing the pans
Flour for dusting the pans
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
1 cup whole milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Cinnamon Buttercream Ingredients
(makes 3 1/2 cups - however, my mom's friend Mickey says she always needs more and therefore doubles the recipe)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
3 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar sifted
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350*. Generously grease two 9" round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess four. Set the pans aside.

2. Place the cake mix, milk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look well combined. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.

3. Bake the cakes until they are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 27 to 29 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert each onto a rack, then invert them again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Allow them to cool completely, 30 minutes more.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, and vanilla. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more. Bled in up to 1 tablespoon milk if the frosting seems too stiff.

5. Place one cake layer right side up, on a serving platter. Spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer, right side up, on top of the first layer and frost the top and sides of the cake with clean smooth strokes.
* Place the cake, uncovered in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes. Cover the cake with waxed paper and store in the fridge for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in aluminum foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight the fridge before serving.

Happy birthday sweet boy!