Calving Season Birthdays

It’s been hard to stay on top of blogging since calving season has started for us so I apologize for the delay. Both my husband and son have birthdays about a week apart at the beginning of our calving season.

One of the traditions we’ve carried on from my husband’s youth that’s always made having a birthday during calving special is the number of calves born on his birthday (his and his brother’s birthday were days apart and there was always a competition over who had more calves born on their birthdays). Another thing that makes a birthday special during calving season at our house is that I actually do some baking. In honor of their birthdays, I’m going to share their birthday desserts. I always ask them what they want me to bake for their birthdays because we usually have relatives over for supper, dessert, gift-opening and conversation. They both have their favorite desserts and the following are what they picked this year.

My husband sticks with tradition. He likes a basic yellow cake with chocolate frosting. For his dessert I start with a yellow cake mix from a box but I can’t help myself; I have to add a little extra to the cake mix to make it “special.” My additions give the cake a nice dense texture and good flavor.

 I add the following to a dry cake mix (we’re 5500 ft above sea level so I follow high altitude directions which are listed here).

• 1 box (4 servings) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 1/3 c water
• 1/3 c oil
• ½ c sour cream (or Greek vanilla yogurt, which is what I used this time because it was all I had on hand this time)
• 3 eggs

Mix all with a mixer until whipped smooth.

Pour in 9×13” greased pan and bake 35-40 minutes at 375Ëš

For the frosting I use Hershey’s One-Bowl Chocolate Butter cream frosting recipe:

• 6 T butter or margarine softened
• 2 2/3 c. powdered sugar
• ½ c. powdered cocoa
• 1/3 c. milk
• 1 t vanilla extract

Mix all with a mixer until smooth and frost the cake once completely cooled.

My little extras gives the cake a nice dense texture and adds to its flavor.

 

My son goes back and forth between two of his favorite desserts. It’s either peanut butter pie or the simple but yummy Better-Than-Anything-Cake, which is what he requested this year. Technically, my boy has been addicted to this cake since birth. A girlfriend brought supper for my husband and me after we brought our baby home from the hospital and she’d made this cake for us. I think my husband only got one piece because as a nursing new mother, I went through a lot of calories and this was the food I ate to replenish those lost calories.

Better Than Anything Cake

• 1 box chocolate cake mix
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 small jar carmel ice cream topping
• 1 small container coolwhip
• 4 Heath candy bars chopped
• Chocolate syrup

Bake the cake according to directions. Once baked and while still hot, poke the cake all over with a fork and pour ½ or all of the can of sweetened condensed milk and same as for carmel ice cream topping to soak into the baked cake. Cool completely.

Spread Coolwhip over cake, sprinkle crushed candy bars over top and drizzle with chocolate syrup; refrigerate. It is an awesome cake and after a couple of days the cake gets soaked even more in yummy gooey sweetness.

The crunchiness of the toffee candy bars puts this cake on the list for top-rated desserts at our home.

So here’s to a good calving season and Happy Birthday to my guys!