Happy Birthday Erick!

It was 35 years ago today that Erick was born. Yay! Happy Birthday Erick! To honor Erick's special day I made him a cake, Italian Wedding Cake, at his request. (See recipe at bottom)Devin and I practiced singing the birthday song all throughout the day. We sang in the car on the way to school, on the way home, making the card for Daddy, and well you get the idea!

By the time Daddy walked in the door, Devin and I were ready to sing and get the "party" going as it was well past 6 o'clock. Devin was getting tired and quite cranky- poor little guy!





Eating the cake was Devin's favorite part. Like father like son!



This is Sandra Lee's Italian Wedding Cake recipe

Ingredients

* 1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix (recommended: Betty Crocker)
* 1 stick butter, softened
* 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
* 3 egg whites
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (recommended: McCormick)
* 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (recommended: McCormick)
* 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained (recommended: Dole)
* 1/2 cup sweetened flake coconut (recommended: Baker's)
* 2 cups chopped pecans, divided (recommended: Diamond)
* 2 (16-ounce) cans cream cheese frosting (recommended: Betty Crocker)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly coat 2 (8-inch) cake pans with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, butter, buttermilk, egg whites, and extracts. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in crushed pineapple, coconut, and 1 cup pecans. Divide batter into 2 prepared cake pans. Bake in preheated oven for 31 to 36 minutes or until tester inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes then turn out on to wire racks to cool completely.

In a small bowl, stir together remaining 1 cup pecans and frosting. With a serrated knife, cut both cakes horizontally to make 4 layers. Frost the top of each layer with 1/2 cup of frosting and stack on top of the next layer. Use remaining frosting to frost the entire outside of cake. Slice and serve.

My personal notes: I choose not to add coconut as I do not like it. I sometimes add cut up maraschino cherries to the cake batter....mmmmm. I do not cut the cake to make 4 layers ~ 2 layers work out fine for me!