They Say It's Your Birthday...
...Well it's my birthday too! Yes, today is my 36th 29th birthday! Horray! Before my day even began, my 14 year old daughter, Emily, woke me before she left for school to sing me Happy Birthday. It's a tradition in my family that everyone gets sung to on their birthday. Near or far, we make...
...Well it's my birthday too! Yes, today is my 36th 29th birthday! Horray!
Before my day even began, my 14 year old daughter, Emily, woke me before she left for school to sing me Happy Birthday. It's a tradition in my family that everyone gets sung to on their birthday. Near or far, we make it happen. So, this morning, Emily was the first to sing Happy Birthday to me! Such a sweet gift from my baby girl.
My day officially started an hour later when I rolled out of bed with the sun shining through my window and a blanket of snow covering my neighborhood. Just when I thought all the snow had melted, Mother Nature brought us more! It was a beautiful sight from my window this morning! (I posted a pic of the snow on Instagram!)
My baby boy, Matty, woke up in a super good mood full of snuggle and love. I love it when he's in a happy mood in the mornings! He brings such joy and happiness to my day when he's happy! Great way to start my birthday!
And then the best thing happened. My husband called me from Afghanistan to with me a Happy Birthday and to tell me he loves me. He told me that today, he had an American flag flown over the Forward Operating Base he's stationed at in my honor. It'll fly over the FOB for 24 hours and tomorrow he'll take a few pictures of the flag and of him taking it down. When he comes home, the flag will come with him and will have an official certificate saying where and when it was on the flagpole in Afghanistan. What a an amazingly special birthday gift! I am such a lucky woman to have a thoughtful, loving and brave Husband!
UPDATE: Here are a few of the pictures! Aren't they great? I'm so proud to be married to such an amazing American soldier!
On the agenda for my birthday... do a little laundry, take a hot bath and spend the evening with good friends over dinner and cake!
Cake! Yes, of course there will be cake!
I absolutely LOVE my chocolate cake recipe. I know I've said it a million times before, but it's the best chocolate cake I've ever had. Moist, rich, and full of chocolate flavor. It holds up perfectly to any frosting and is just so YUM!
So, for my birthday cake this year I made three layers of my favorite chocolate cake. I used my Double Chocolate Layer Cake recipe and divided the cake in three 8in cake pans to bake. I filled the cake with my Perfect Peanut Butter Buttercream... both layers inside. To frost and decorate the outside of the cake, I made a double batch of my Mom's chocolate fudge frosting recipe. I had extra peanut butter and fudge frosting, but no worries... it won't go to waste! Finally, I decorated the edges with a simple piped scallop edge and topped the cake with chopped Reese's!
It's a peanut butter and chocolate lovers dream cake.
And I'm not gonna lie. I've made this cake before... well maybe not exactly this cake. But the chocolate peanut butter combo I've made before. But this one... it's pretty darn amazing with both the peanut butter buttercream and fudge frosting.
Recipes to make my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake:
- Chocolate Layer Cake - make 3 8in layers and bake for 25-30 minutes
- Perfect Peanut Butter Buttercream - make a single batch, you'll have plenty to frost the inside layers
- Chocolate Fudge Frosting - make a double batch, you'll want to have enough to work with.
So, besides my hubby not being here... it's been a pretty darn good birthday! Here's to another great year of life!
Oh... and because I just learned how to make them... here's a fun GIF of me serving a piece of this cake!
Enjoy!
Belated happy birthday! It's a good week for birthdays! A friend of mine has one today. Another friend's is Saturday, and mine is Sunday.
Your cake looks yummy! I haven't decided yet what kind of cake I want for my birthday.
Wow! What a lot of days to have an excuse to eat cake!! hehe 🙂
Happy belated birthday! That is my kind of cake, oh my goodness that looks heavenly! I'm going to bookmark this cake and attempt it for my birthday this fall.
Happy Belated Birthday Betsy! That cake looks pretty delicious. I have a good chocolate cake recipe (has coffee in it too) but I might have to try this one. Mine doesn't have sour cream; you can never go wrong with sour cream. Thanks so much to your husband for his service and my heart goes out to you and your children while he's away. I hope he comes home soon! My son is in the Air Force (and my husband was in the Army, pre-us being together) but he's in Missouri. I'm hoping it will stay that way. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Barb - Military families are some of the strongest, don't you think? Thank you to you and your family as well for your service! Happy Baking!
Happy birthday! Your site is really cute, and that cake looks amazing!
Thank you, Miss Brittany!
Happy Birthday Betsy. I hope you had a wonderful day. I love the story of your husbands gift for you. So special. Thank you for being a supportive wife to the military.
You and my husband are two peas in a pod. He loves the chocolate and peanut butter combination. And requested it for his birthday--which is tomorrow. I have my own peanut butter frosting recipe, but I will be using your mother's cake recipe for the cake. The story of you sharing this cake with your mom on your birthdays is such a wonderful memory I'm sure you cherish.
Thank you for your blog. I make many of your recipes.
Cindy - thanks for such a sweet and thoughtful comment! I really appreciate your kind words. I hope you love the cake as much as I do!! xoxo Happy Birthday to your husband!! <3 Betsy
Yum.. that cake was so delicious. I love the deep dark color. I had to resist eating it straight out of the oven. The aroma was intoxicating. Again, Thank you for sharing.
I know, right. I ALWAYS want to dig right in when I make this cake! Glad you enjoy it!
Happy Birthday to you Betsy! My sister's name is Betsy. I have never met a Betsy that I didn't like! : ). Your cake sounds out of this world fantastic.
How thoughtful of your husband to fly a flag in your honor. I am so grateful for men like him that serve and protect our great country. May God bless him and keep him safe.
Wishing you a beautiful day! Love, Becky
Thanks so much, Becky! I really appreciate your kind words!! And tell your sister, Betsy, I say HELLO! hehe 😉
I hate you right now. That cake looks divine! I'm bookmarking this page so I can make me one when I stop dieting. Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stop dieting on your birthday... and every day after your birthday until your cake is gone! hehe
Oh my dear goodness... I WANT this cake! My birthday is next week, so this is what I'm asking for 🙂
I hope someone makes it for you.... because it's out of this world amazing! Happy Birthday!
That looks amazing! Happy belated birthday!
YUM!!!! Wow that cake looks incredible.
Happy Belated Birthday Betsy! Hope you had a nice day. Your cake looks absolutely delicious! The story about your husband and his gift was beautiful, thanks for sharing it and also the pictures! Thank you, your family and especially your husband for serving for all of us! God Bless!
Thank you, Mary, for the kind words! 🙂
Happy belated birthday Betsy! My husband's birthday was the 8th... The kids ate his birthday cake cause unfortunately he was sick. Looks like I can make this for his "do over" cake. Lol
Thanks Roxana! I hope your hubby loves this cake as much as I did!!
I know I am late, but I just had to wish you a happy birthday and tell you how amazing this cake looks! I am a huge PB lover, so this is literally the perfect way to celebrate a birthday!! And thanks for sharing the pictures of your husband - brings tears to my eyes! Thank you to him for his service.
You are too sweet, Cate! THANK YOU for the birthday love! <3
My daughter wants a cake like this for her 10th bday, can't wait to make it! Her bday is in May 🙂 Looks very yummy!
Yay! It's a great cake! I hope she has an amazing 10th birthday!
I've made this cake for EVERY birthday in our family. We're military, as well and have moved. I almost had a panic attack, when my middle child said this was the cake she wanted and I couldn't find your link! NO worries, I remembered that I had emailed it to a friend. I have take some pretty essential steps, to ensure that NEVER happens again. We cannot live without this cake!
That is so fabulous to hear, Margot!!! xxoo Thank you so much for sharing this with me! <3 Love from one military family to another!