Celebrate April with Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

It's April! I'm happy it's April because it's my birthday month. I'm so excited about turning 30 that I am going to be celebrating each day this month with one of my favorite foods or drinks (follow along on my Facebook page). I made a list of my favorites and almost half of the list has chocolate as an ingredient. I never realized how much of a chocolate lover I was until I made this list. To celebrate, I'm sharing one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes. I first made this recipe back in January of 2012, but a good recipe is always worth sharing multiple times. This time around, I made a cake and topped it with fudge frosting and sprinkles.

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cupcakes

Source: Jill O'Connor's Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey

Half of this recipe yields 1-8x8 cake

2 cups bleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cups cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup mayonnaise (not low-fat)

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups boiling water

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour baking pan and set aside. 

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine the sugar and eggs and beat with an electric mixer set at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in mayonnaise and vanilla just until combined. Reduce the speed to medium and beat in half of the flour mixture just until combined. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add half of the boiling water and beat at a very low speed just until the batter is smooth, 5 to 10 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat just until combined, 5 to 10 seconds longer. Beat in the remaining water. The batter will be somewhat thin.

Pour the batter into the cake pan. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Frost once the cake has cooled. 

Fudge Icing

Source: Jill O'Connor's Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 Tbsp buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

Combine the chocolate, butter, and buttermilk in a saucepan and cook, stirring over medium heat, until the chocolate is melted. 

Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla, salt, and 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar. 

Add remaining sugar if you like a sweeter and thicker icing. 

Frost cake, serve, and enjoy.

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Blue Velvet Cupcakes

For her third birthday Cati requested blue cupcakes with M&Ms. I thought of making plain vanilla cupcakes with blue food coloring but I remembered coming across this Blue Velvet cupcake recipe. The cupcakes came out just as requested and even had a hint of chocolaty flavor to them. My only regret was not having more blue food coloring to give the cupcakes more of a rich blue color.

Blue Velvet Mini-Cupcakes
Source: amyBITES
Yields about 4 dozen mini-cupcakes (halving the recipe creates about 12 standard cupcakes)

2½ cups sifted cake flour
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 ounces blue food coloring or color of choice
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. F. Prepare four mini-cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in eggs one at a time. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk. Beat in food coloring and vinegar, then add vanilla.

Using a Tablespoon or small cookie scoop, distribute batter among all mini-cupcake cups. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 pound confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter. Beat in confectioners’ sugar until fluffy. Beat in vanilla.

Birthday Nutella Cupcakes

My birthday was on Thursday and to celebrate I made cupcakes. I wanted to try a new chocolaty recipe and went with this Nutella Cupcake recipe I had marked off a while back. I had high hopes for the recipe because I love Nutella. The cupcakes were good, but they weren't anything out of this world. The Nutella flavoring was there in the cupcakes and I also spread Nutella on the cupcakes for extra goodness, but I think I overbaked the cupcakes or something because the cupcakes were dense and more brownie-like than cupcake-like. Maybe next time I won't be lazy and I'll make the Nutella filling and buttercream like the original recipe did.

 

Nutella Cupcakes
Source: Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
Yields: ~2 dozen cupcakes

2 cups flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup nutella
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with cupcakes liners.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar for 3-5 minutes or until the mixture is pale and thick. Add in the butter and beat until combined. Then, add in the nutella. Add the flour mixture and milk half at a time until well-blended.

Divide batter into the cupcake liners, filling 2/3 full. Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Cati's Second Birthday

Back in November I had decided I wanted to do a Sesame Street theme birthday party for Cati. I thought Sesame Street was a good idea because she's really into the characters and knows most of them by heart. That was before I realized Sesame Street was a really popular theme for second birthdays. So I had a challenge: how to make the party Sesame Street themed but unique enough to be just right for Cati. I found a balance between using the traditional Sesame Street sign, the colors of pink and aqua, and a bit of focus on Cati's favorite characters of Abby, Zoe, and Elmo.

Again, the incomparable Shelley made this cake:

I also didn't want to go overboard with decorations because I was afraid of going into labor. Luckily, that didn't happen and the party happened on Sunday and was a huge success. The biggest hit was the giant bounce house and slide. All the kids loved it and I was so surprised by how much Cati enjoyed it. The girl spent most of her party in there and the only way we got her to stay out of it was by feeding her pizza, cake, or cookies. Which, by the way, the cookie buffet was really popular and I'm amazed Cati didn't turn blue and start saying "mmm crumbly cookie" from all the cookies that she ate. Thank you to Claudia and Raquel for baking along with me!

Slide with daddy

This is Cati pointing back to the bounce house

As always, events like this remind me of how loved Cati is and how much love and support there is out there for our little family. We really do have the best family and friends.

Today You Are Two

Photo by Melissa of Simply Captivating

Dear Sweet Catarina,

It's so hard to believe that today you are a two years old. My little baby has turned into a little girl. Thinking back on the past year of your life I am left both in tears of sadness and happiness. Sad that time has gone by so quickly and that there's nothing I can do to stop you from growing, but happy that time has passed in such a way to allow your personality to bloom. A year ago I would have simply said you are a happy baby. Today I can say so much more. You are still happy, but you are also a hilarious little character complete with your own quirks. Like your dad, you hate to be dirty and you love, love sweets. Like me, you have a temper and an attitude that shocks me into saying, "I didn't know a two-year old could already have an attitude like that!"

You are Miss Independent. You love to sing anything and everything and, trust me, the fact that you are currently obsessing over Adele's "Rumor Has It" has me feeling like you are definitely sprung from me. Your voice is so sweet and high-pitched that I feel sad for the day when it won't be so. You are capable of understanding so many things, but my favorite is your ability to be empathic. If you see someone crying, you will say "sta llorando" and be close to tears yourself. If you do something to hurt one of us, you will say "owwee corazon" while touching your heart. You will say, "sana sana culito de rana" to rub away the pain. And you know your kisses are magical.

As I look back on the past year of your life, I am amazed at how much has changed and how well you have adjusted. We both started school and you got a new babysitter. These are new things you were completely unaware of until they happened, but trust me baby girl, I stressed out about them and felt so guilty about taking myself away from you. I still feel that guilt, but seeing how you have grown and developed helps to ease the guilt. This next year of your life will be full of even more adjustments as we await the arrival of your little sister. I know you will be an amazing big sister and I can't wait to see you express all that love you have in you.

There is so much to say about milestones and development, but it doesn't matter. You are perfect regardless of what you know or don't know and regardless of what you do or don't do. The biggest and most important milestone of the past year has been you going from simply saying "mama" and "dada" to "love you mommy" and "love you daddy." The greatest and most fulfilling role I have as that of your mother and it makes me so proud to be known as "la mama de Cati" (thanks E!). You are such a beautiful, amazing, wonderful, miraculous little girl and somehow I got lucky enough to be your mother.

While things may have started off rocky with us, things are great now. You are secure in me and I am secure in you. We have a bond that will hopefully never be broken. You are your own little person completely separate from me and you constantly remind me that you don't need my help. But, when you do ask for help, my heart lights up because you still need me and, more importantly, because you understand wanting and choosing to ask for my help.

There is so much to say, but it's impossible to say it all when my heart is so full. You have made the past two years of my life seem like something out of a fairytale. Life with you is the stuff dreams are made of. You are my silly, goofy girl. My "baby grande." You are my Cati Diaz and I am your Mommy Diaz. And if you get nothing else out of this, at the very least take this with you: thank you for being you and for giving me the gift of motherhood. The woman I am today, the love I am capable of feeling, and the hope I have, is all because of you.

Love Always,
Mommy

Happy Birthday Love

February is a month full of love for me. Two of the most important people in my life were born this month: Alex on February 12th and Cati on February 14th. Yesterday we celebrated both birthdays with a party for Cati (more on that later) and a small gathering of family and close friends for Alex. I didn't get Alex a gift this year (apparently I bought it for him months ago?) but I wanted to make sure to get him a fun cake. Just because you aren't having a party yourself, doesn't mean you shouldn't have cake! Luckily, my ultra-talented friend Shelley was able to make a special cake for the special man in my life. To say that he loved the cake, is an understatement. He was floored by it! I mean, how could you not be with a cake that looks like this:

I knew Shelley would make an amazing cake, I just didn't expect it to be this cool looking. And so, after all the kiddies and extended family went home, we grilled up some burgers, sang "happy birthday," and the love of my life blew out his candle with our daughter. To see these two together, I am reminded of how lucky I am to be so overwhelmingly in love and to have my past, present, and future all tangled up in a mess of hugs and kisses.

Life just wouldn't be fun or have as much meaning if I had to go through it without Alex. So happy birthday love. Thank you for being born. For loving me enough to not only want to spend the rest of your beautiful life with me but also for loving me enough to want to create new life with me.

Thank You Cati Style

I finally got all the Thank You cards for Cati's birthday out the door. It took me a while because I had a plan that didn't quite pan out (that's what sometimes happens when you depend on others) so I ended up sending out plain cards instead. The cards really weren't plain, though, because they were ballerina-themed and personalized. I saw this invitation on The Giving Madam's Etsy shop and contacted Rebeca to see if she could turn the invite into a thank you card. She did and she changed things around to my specifications. I had the file within two days of ordering and after quite a bit of back-and-forth emailing. I spent $5 at Office Max getting 36 of these cards printed and cut. I love the way they came out and had so much fun helping Cati write them.

Thanks to Rebeca of The Giving Madam for being so helpful and affordable! I am one step closer to being done with all the birthday stuff. If I could only push myself to do the photo album/scrapbook I would be completely done!

Thirteen Months.

Today Cati turns thirteen months. I can't believe she is officially over a year old! We had a quiet day at home and she is enjoying the time change because not only does she sleep in a bit but she also gets to go to sleep later. She's such a ball of energy. To celebrate her turning thirteen months I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite pictures from her 12-month portrait session with Yania of Breathtaking Memories. Enjoy!

The Other Birthday Person

Cati's birthday party was held on Alex's birthday. I didn't want him feeling left out so I made sure to get a special cake made for him. I wanted to try to combine two of his loves: watches and bones. The cake was made by by.Ivonne and it featured the face of the watch I have Alex for his birthday and Jack from "A Nightmare Before Christmas" because he's the cutest bone man around. Here are a few pictures of the birthday boy:

The cake

Cake up close

Cake and the inspiration

Birthday boy and his cake

Eating his cake

Alex, the Flavor Flav of the fondant world.