birthday cake


Well, birthday week 2007 has just about come to an end, I think. But I’m okay with that because I’ve got cake in the fridge to last for a few days more (maybe) and a bountiful supply of fresh lemon curd and a delicious dark chocolate ganache to keep those birthday memories kickin’. The cake I made was outstanding. As planned, I followed the Martha Stewart yellow cake recipe to the letter. It turned out wonderfully moist and flavourful and I’d make it again in a heartbeat. I did make a lemon curd filling, but decided not to use Martha’s recipe because I prefer recipes using whole eggs rather than just yolks. Instead, I found this version which not only met my whole egg requirement, but it was sweet, sweet perfection. Tart, lemony and way too easy to eat up with a spoon! And for the rich chocolate topping, I halved the Martha recipe, subbed in my favorite Dark Ritter Sport bars for the chocolate chips, and even after topping the cake, still had enough ganache to last a long, long while.

If you are putting this together, you can make everything 1 day in advance…just make sure everything is tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated. Just don’t put everything together until the next day.

19 comments to “birthday cake”

  1. 1
    Jenni   May 14, 2007 at 2:57 am

    It was quite wonderful going through your post…thanks for sharing them with us…really enjoyed reading through this…and looks like you had a good time as well!!!

  2. 2
    jill   May 14, 2007 at 6:30 am

    The cake is beautiful. I’m sorry your birthday week had to end. Next year, do what I do…birthday month!

  3. 3
    Joanne   May 14, 2007 at 7:49 am

    Sounds like you had a frickin awesome birthday to go along with the frickin awesome cake. This cake looks so go-o-od!! I’ll be making a cake for my husband’s b-day next month. Now I have two possible cake options from your post to choose from 🙂

  4. 4
    Patricia Scarpin   May 14, 2007 at 10:58 am

    What a delicious and beautiful cake! I think that the filling you chose is just perfect.

  5. 5
    nosheteria   May 14, 2007 at 11:38 am

    Yum, that cake looks gooey and delicious. Happy Birthday!

  6. 6
    Caroline   May 14, 2007 at 4:20 pm

    Every time I visit your site, you are baking nice cakes …my favorite food! The cake energy must be drawing me to you each time.

  7. 7
    Molly   May 14, 2007 at 8:34 pm

    Stunning cake, dear kickpleat! It sounds just dreamy. Thanks for the links to the recipe – I’m filing them away for future reference. You never know when you’ll need a good yellow cake, you know?

    Happy belated birthday!

  8. 8
    Judy   May 16, 2007 at 7:43 am

    YUM!!!!!

  9. 9
    Lizzy   May 16, 2007 at 9:08 am

    Happy Birthday! That cake looks delicious:)

  10. 10
    The Culinary Chase   May 16, 2007 at 4:40 am

    Chocolate and lemon…..yum!

  11. 11
    kickpleat   May 16, 2007 at 12:18 pm

    thanks jenni…good times (& good eatin’) was had by all 🙂

    jill, oh well, i always have next year! and i certainly like the idea of birthday month!

    joanne, good luck with the cake bakin’! mmmm, cake 🙂

    patricia, it really was the perfect filling. quite complimentary!

    thanks nosh! gooey and delicious often go hand in hand.

    haha, caroline! i promise some more variety soon….tho it certainly is hard to resist a cake post!

    thank you, molly. the recipes worked wonderfully and the yellow cake was a definite favorite!

    chocolate & lemon, indeed, culinary chase! yum!!

    judy…seconded!!

    thanks lizzy. the cake surely was.

    izzizzi, i’ve never had a problem with any of the martha recipes i’ve tried in the past. but this one was certainly easy and foolproof, i think. give martha another go!

  12. 12
    Darlaing   May 16, 2007 at 4:34 pm

    oh my gosh, this cake has everything I love in it! Chocolate and lemons!! Happy Birthday! No bike tour?

  13. 13
    izzizzi   May 16, 2007 at 12:05 pm

    mmmm…that cake looks delicious! Have you ever had problems with Martha’s recipes though? I have in the past and have been scared to make some of her recipes, even though they look great. She also tends to call for odd shaped pans…

  14. 14
    kickpleat   May 18, 2007 at 2:05 pm

    sadly darla, no bike tour! soon though, i’m sure. a bike and beer tour will happen this summer!!

  15. 15
    annie   May 26, 2007 at 3:36 pm

    reading this post made me wish i could do my birthday over!

    – anne, menuism.com intern
    and birthday girl in another 11.5 months

  16. 16
    kickpleat   May 28, 2007 at 8:26 am

    annie, there’s always next year 🙂 or there’s always another excuse for cake!

  17. 17
    Anonymous   June 3, 2007 at 12:58 am

    i’m making this cake right now…not sure the lemon curd is going to turn out right though 🙁 the recipe said to stop cooking when it held whisk marks and had bubbles, but mine bubbled vigorously for a good 15 minutes and didn’t thicken to the point where whisk marks showed up. hope it thickens in the fridge!!!

  18. 18
    kickpleat   June 3, 2007 at 12:32 pm

    anon, i had the same fear with the lemon curd, but don’t worry, it will firm up in the fridge. i made the curd on friday night and by saturday afternoon it was thick and lovely. enjoy!!

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