Happy birthday princess!

This weekend we celebrated our princess' 4th birthday. At her request, she had a castle cake and an ocean theme.

I have a lot of respect for cake chefs... I worked my butt off but the cake was a disaster! I used this fondant recipe and this buttermilk frosting. It turned out delicious and I got lots of compliments on the taste, but all I could see were the mistakes I made.

But all that matters in the end is that she loved it.

Birthday party }{ Mini tutorial

She's 3. I can't believe it, but she's 3 years old. Oh my.

This weekend we had her birthday party, and in her request the theme was cherry blossoms (sakura), the official flower of Japan.

Between my husband and I, we did all the decorations, food and drinks, party favors, etc. We did rent a bounce house for the little ones. We had quite a few of her friends over, and they all seemed to thouroughly enjoy their time over.

Unfortunately I don't have many good pictures, since I was too busy running around. I managed to get a picture of the cake and of her blowing the candle. (by the way, my husband made that cake....)

And here's a mini-tutorial for the cherry blossoms vase:

1. Using upcycled glass bottles and jars, I spray painted them using the palette of the birthday theme (white, pink, lilac). I got this idea from Creative Jewish Mom.
2. I bought some twigs and dried branches at the local Joann.
3. Using pink tissue paper, I cut a bunch of circles. Adding a little glue in the middle, I scrunched the tissue into a sort of cone, bringing all the edges together.
4. I glued two or three flowers into each twig and put them in the vases.

That's it! Super easy and cute. They're actually still up in our bookcases, and I think I might leave them up for a while.

Does your husband have a secret talent? How did you find out about it?

Coconut and cheese cake plus changes to the blog

"We want cake! Where's our cake?" (from one of N.'s favorite songs: "7" by They Might Be Giants)


Well, before we get to that.

You may have noticed that I have changed the background and banner. Again. Like, for the umpteenth time.

Is that a blogging faux-pas?

I'm trying to find something that I can be happy with for extended periods of time, but haven't found it yet. So every time I get tired of a look or background, it's "off with their heads" and a new one gets done.

Maybe I should just make a seasonal schedule for changing the background. In any case, for now it's blue and green. And the header needed to be minimalist, it just needed to be.

Ok, so now for the cake.

When my mom and sister were visiting over Christmas, my mom made this awesome cake that I used to devour when I was a kid. I always thought it was a fairly common cake, but I haven't met any other Brazilians here who have even heard of it! So I've decided to share the recipe for my letter C day.

How could I not? It's Coconut and Cheese Cake. That's a whole lot of C. My mom calls it "filipeto."

(warning: don't judge a book by its cover, or a cake by its frumpiness! This cake is delicious)

(warning #2: it is also very, very sweet, feel free to take out some of the sugar in the recipe)

Recipe:


1 cup of flour
1 cup of milk
1 cup of coconut milk
1 cup of grated cheese (I used sharp cheddar)
2 cups of sugar (feel free to use 1 instead)
4 eggs
2 tablespoons of butter (don't fill it to the brim)

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix everything together in a blender, pour the mix in a buttered tube pan and bake it for 45 minutes. At that point, lower the temperature to around 200F and leave it for another 15 minutes or until the cake is golden brown. Let it cool and enjoy. Oh, and the cake should only look sticky and gooey. But it should be firm and thick, not truly gooey.


Se outros brasileiros estiverem lendo este blog, alguem ja ouviu falar desse bolo? (trans. if other Brazilians are reading this blog, have you heard of this cake?)

Does your family have a recipe or craft that you've never found anywhere else?