Tuxedo 21st Birthday Cake

This cake is the ultimate 21st birthday cake. You might have a little more than just a sugar buzz after polishing off a slice - if you can stop yourself there. I've made this cake for several different occasions over the past six months and have finally gotten the recipe perfected. It has four layers of intense chocolate cake made with Guinness Stout beer. In between each is a mousse-y, whiskey caramel filling (that is also AWESOME as a sauce over ice cream...) and the whole thing is topped off with espresso buttercream. The cake is super moist with a spongy texture and a not-too-sweet flavor. The Guinness really comes through and gives it an after taste that makes you go, "hmm...," in the best way. The rich filling compliments it perfectly and the buttercream ties all the flavors together. This particular cake has an extra drizzle of dark chocolate ganache over the top, just in case you weren't already sold. It's chocolate, it's Irish, it's alcoholic. What more can you ask for as a new member of the 21 and over crowd?

**All alcohol evaporates in the baking process and only remains in the cake and filling as flavoring**

I recently entered this cake in the Today Show's Quest for the Best Birthday Cake challenge. Here's to hoping that something comes out of it, but either way this cake is just plain wicked. 

Lumberjack Cake

This week one of my swim coaches asked me to make her a lumberjack cake for her birthday. My first reaction: .....what?? But of course I agreed. A few google searches later, I realized that a 'lumberjack cake' is definitely not a common thing. What a perfect way to make sure my blog turns up at the top of the list! Never again will anyone wonder to themselves, "What does a lumberjack cake look like?" Well, in case you were wondering, it looks like this:

That is 6" of pure rugged lumberjack-ness right there. The plaid flannel shirt is made out of icing and gumpaste, those are gumpaste logs on the side and a variety of mustaches along the backside. 

Did I mention that this cake is incredible on the inside too? Three decadent layers of Guinness chocolate cake, filled with espresso buttercream and a spiked whiskey caramel drizzle. It's Irish heaven.

Happy 24th Birthday Robin!! Thanks for the unique opportunity and assurance that my blog will now pop up on all 'lumberjack cake' google searches.