2 posts tagged “cake”

Daniel and I did some baking this morning. I say Daniel and I, but he was not really interested. Rather than participating, he instead played with his “Choo-Choo-Tommy” pop-up play train that my mom got him for his birthday. She found it at a yard sale for cheap and finally decided to buy it for him once she discovered it folded up nicely, thus making it easy to store and keeping it from constantly being in the way. This is a good thing, for it is quite large when unfolded. Being that I was in the kitchen, Daniel wanted to be as well, so I had to work around “Choo-Choo-Tommy” and my son all morning.

 In attempts to satisfy my sweet tooth and yet stay moderately on the healthy side, we

opted to make these “healthier cupcakes” that I saw in a magazine (sorry, I can not remember which magazine it was). They had three options: good, better, and best. My taste buds really wanted the “best” option, so that is what I had planned to make. According to the magazine, “Cake itself isn’t terribly fattening, but 2 tablespoons of frosting tack on 140 junky calories and 20 grams of sugar.”  The best recipe called for you to swirl in Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread into the batter. I could not find it at the grocery store, so I just bought the Krogers version. When the cupcakes are finished, they have 17 calories and 2 grams of sugar. Not too bad, especially if you are officially tracking that sort of thing. I think that mine have a little bit less calories and sugar because I did not put an entire ½ tsp as called for. I just swirled in a little with a knife.

Being that I had run out of cupcake papers, I decided to use the rest of the batter to make the better option as a small round cake. After baking, you are to drizzle on homemade glaze= 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, 1 ½ tbs milk, and ½ tsp vanilla. I had to add more milk because it was just a messy clump when I added the exact measurement of milk. These have 32 calories and 7grams of sugar when completed. I, however, did not “drizzle” the glaze, I just poured it on the top. So, this most likely has more than the estimated amount, especially varying due to the size of cake you cut. The magazine suggested topping with a blueberry or raspberry, but I do not have those, so I outlined the edges with strawberries.

 Once they were done, we, of course, had an almost immediate taste test. I thought the chocolate-hazelnut cupcakes were great! And Daniel seemed to agree. I think though, after his effort in the kitchen, I am going to start telling him the story of that chicken that made bread. No one would help her make it, but when she asked “Who will help me eat the bread?” everyone wanted in on the action.

He asked for more, and I wanted another, but we stopped with just one each, even though they are “healthier options.” I am sure dinner will be followed up with another. As of now, I have not tried the cake with the glaze, so I am not sure of its outcome. In all honesty, I do not really want any of it. I guess I will take it to work tomorrow or try to send it to work with Thomas. I am leery though because I am not sure of its taste. I would hate to offer it to others when it is not very good. Perhaps if the glaze tastes bad, I will just blame it on the fact it is “healthy.” :o)

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the “good” version called for a specific type of non-trans fat frosting on each cupcake, yielding 82 calories and 13grams of sugar upon the addition of 1 ½ tbs of the frosting applied to the top.

 As for now, I shall go and use the rest of naptime to clean up the kitchen and be officially productive. When Daniel wakes, we’ll go for a run and play outside, for the weather has been clearing up as the day has evolved. After that, it will almost be time for Daddy to be home!

It is so hard to believe that just a year ago we were welcoming our new addition into our lives. Literally, I feel like we have blinked, and now we are celebrating his first birthday. Crazy!

Those of you that know me well, you  know that I love hosting parties and having company, so planning a party for Daniel was pleasure....seriously. I was so excited about it, that you might have thought it was my birthday. Anyway, we tried to keep it small, but then when you invite family, neighbors, and a few friends, it turns out to be a big crowd. There were about 25 bodies in our home, and not everyone made it! (Of course, some of those bodies were little bodies, but they were bodies none the less.) As my father-in-law honestly said while on a phone call "It is chaos in here." Although that might have been true, it did not mean that it was not fun :o).

We tried to go through the birthday process quickly, being that there were many people, some of which traveled a few hours for the party. Everyone was welcome to eat upon arrival.I had made pigs in a blanket, a vegetable tray, cupcakes, Oreo balls (a big hit), and chips and salsa.

Daniel opened up gifts first since we thought he might get messy from the cake. He received great presents--clothes and toys--and I was glad to say we

did not get any obnoxious gifts. Anything that made sound could be turned off and nothing was too big or crazy. Daniel's favorite gift had to be his activity table. Thomas and I had been looking for one for awhile. Every time we went to a friend's house with kids, they happened to have one, and Daniel simply loved playing with it. I price checked, and they were pretty expensive! However, being that my sister-in-law, Michelle, works at a child's consignment store, she managed to find one cheap, even before applying her store discount. She actually gave it to us early to transport home. We hid it in our closet because Thomas was pretty adamant about not letting Daniel play with it before his birthday. Daniel, however, had different plans. He found it in our closet one afternoon and began to play to his heart's content. I noticed that life was a little quite, and I knew that my son had to be into something. I hunted him down and took him away from the toy. He remembered where it was though! About three more times Daniel sneaked back into our closet to play. We even put a box in front of it, but I still caught him crawling around the box in search of the toy. Needless to say, he was pleased to get it at his party and it is the first toy he plays with when he wakes up and the last toy he plays with before bed. On the left side of the picture, you can see one of mommy and daddy's favorite gifts.....a car seat! Thomas's parents and grandparents got this gift for us, and we are very pleased. Soon, Daniel will be able to ride facing the front, which requires a new seat, and now that we have this gift, we do not have to buy one!

After gifts, we hit the cake. Guests were already eating cup cakes that I made, as well as some my mother baked. I made Daniel his own little cake, which turned out quite nicely, if I may say so myself. It was fun to hear everyone sing. It was funny though because one of Daniel's best buddies is named Daniel, and he is over 2 years old, so he is well aware of his name. Our friends' son got very excited when everyone said his name! He was a little confused though as to why. I actually had to blow out the candle for Daniel. Or nephew, Ryan, blew out his own candle at his first birthday. Our son might have been able to pull it off, but not without grabbing the flame, so we just took care of it for him.

Once the cake was his to eat, Daniel was a little confused as to how to get into it or if he should even eat it at all. I had to somewhat break the cake open and let Daniel taste the chocolate goodness.

Soon enough though, Daniel knew this was something he wanted more of, and he took matters into his own hand (literally). He was gabbing and shoving chocolate cake into his little mouth. We let him have some fun with it; he surely knew he was getting away with something that he would not get to do again. From the highchair, we took Daniel straight to the bath. (He looks like he has a goatee, albeit a chocolate goatee)
Overall, it was a wonderful day. I am so thankful for all our friends and family that came out to celebrate, as well as all those who could not make it but sent their love. It is great to know that we are so loved, but so is our son. He has grown so big in one year: from a little lump to a dancing and crawling maniac. Soon he will be walking and talking in sentences and asking Dad for money to take a girl out on a date! Yikes!!! I pray that we are able to celebrate many many many many more birthdays with out son.