Happy Birthday, P.!

Baby P. (on left) with her good friend A. (as babies, of course).

Today P. turns 10.  She is a sweetheart, but definitely one of my children who could use subtitles.  Being a very private person, it is sometimes difficult to know exactly what is going on inside her head.  P.'s reading ability took a huge leap over the summer and now it is her very favorite thing to do, often spending hours a day with her nose buried in a good book.  She's a girl after my own heart.  I love you, P.!

Our birthday traditions include a couple of things.  First, we have donuts for breakfast.  Then the birthday child gets to choose what we have for dinner and what dessert we will have.  P. has chosen to have tacos for dinner and a chocolate mayonnaise cake for dessert.  (Really they're good... the mayonnaise is used in place of egg and oil.  I'll include the recipe at the end of this  post.)  She, unlike the majority of people in our family, prefers cake to pie.  She also prefers vanilla ice cream to other, fancier types.  After dinner and cake, we move into the living room to open presents.  And that's pretty much the extent of our birthday celebration.  I have to admit that, much to some of my children's dismay, I stopped doing friend parties more than several years ago.  The birthday child (if they are old enough) will often choose a friend or two to have a sleepover with to celebrate in a small way, but we just don't do big friend parties anymore.  (I know... I'm a mean and horrible mother.  I'll get over it.)  It may not be a big, blowout party, but we still celebrate the blessing that our child is in our lives and how much we love and appreciate that child. 

And now to the recipe.  It's really good.  I promise.

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

1 c. cold water
1 c. mayonnaise (not salad dressing)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. sugar
2 c. cake flour (I've used regular flour, cake flour, home ground soft wheat... it all works, the cake flour and ground soft wheat give the best texture.)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
6 TBSP cocoa powder

Mix (with whisk) water, mayonnaise, and vanilla in a small bowl.  In a larger mixing bowl (I use the bowl to my Kitchen Aid) mix together the dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients to dry and beat for several minutes.  Pour into a greased tube pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for ~35-40 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.  Remove center of tube pan and let cool.  Frost or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Comments

TJC said…
P, I'm with you on the choco mayo cake! Happy birthday, and we all hope it was a fun and tasty birthday!

Uncle T and the NH C's
9/11/2010 11:16 AM
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