“The only creatures that are evolved enough to convey pure love are dogs and infants.”
Johnny Depp
Coco turned 2 today. TWO!! She is the cutest creature on the face of this earth and the daughter decided she would bake her a doggie birthday cake last night. I thought the ever lazy teen was talking off the top of her head again. Don’t bother, my inner voice told me!
She asked me to get her carrots and peanut butter. We’ve been through this drama last year as well, and no cake ‘happened’. I didn’t get her the ingredients. Late in the evening I get a call from her. She was shopping for vegetables for the first time in her life. “How many carrots should I buy for 1 cup carrots?”
Obviously meant business! She was soon home grating carrots. Another first and oh the protests. “My arms are gone, how difficult is this, will you grate them, can you please grate them…”! I wasn’t moved! All she had was Coco at her feet, eyes transfixed as her name popped up now and then. {“You’d better eat my cake Coco” she muttered incessantly!}
Oh the drama, the messy counters, grated carrots everywhere. The batter finally made its way into the oven. The dishes were done by her since I threatened to turn the oven off if she didn’t clear up. Then she put up her feet and talked on the phone endlessly. I caught the cake just in time … the top prettily browned! Yet, amazingly, we had cake! Rather Coco had a birthday cake!
Coco’s morning began well. She was spoilt silly. By afternoon it was time to cut the doie birthday cake. BUT NO! Have to frost ‘she’ hollered!! ’twas my turn to protest. “Cocos fine with a cake sans icing”…blah blah blah. We met halfway through. She decided to skip the cream cheese frosting {?????} and do a simple peanut butter topping.
Maybe she picked up some tips watching me all these years, maybe it is her interest in art, so she asked for my tiny cookie cutters. Soon we had carrot stars and ribbons… TADA! Coco couldn’t believe her eyes. She had never been that close to a cake before.
Coco is a good dog and doesn’t even eat out of her bowl without permission. So she waited patiently, amidst puddles of drool, with a few wardrobe malfunctions … Finally had her cake, and ate it too!
Must admit that I’ve had these Best Dog Biscuits Ever from White on Rice bookmarked since I saw them in my inbox in April. I contemplated baking a batch for Coco yesterday but never quite got there. Hopefully the teen will bake up some soon! Or maybe the lad, since he made brownies all by himself a few days ago!
So here we go… for a first on PAB, it’s a doggie birthday cake. And yes, the daughter did have a bite and she said it was good! The kids joined the party with pizza followed by a ginger lemon crème brûlée … and that is another story!
[print_this]Recipe: Doggie Birthday Cake
Summary: A simple one bowl doggie birthday cake which is easy and fun. Tastes good too I hear! Adapted minimally from here
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
Cake
1 egg
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 cup honey
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Frosting
2 tsps peanut butter
Carrots and dog biscuits to garnish
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C . Line the base with parchment {I used a 7″ tin}
Place everything in a large bowl and mix well to combine {use a hand beater on low speed}
Bake for 40 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes; then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Frost with peanut butter. Garnish with carrot cut outs, ribbons and dog biscuits.
