my peppermint vanilla birthday cake

I turned 28 last week, and for the third year in a row I spent my birthday putting together a cake with my mom. For my 26th we made a raspberry chocolate cake, and last year there was the black forest cake but this time I wanted another pink one, naturally. Behold the peppermint vanilla bean cake with meringue icing. We followed this recipe which I think is intended as a Christmas dessert, but whatever; it was just as good in July.

my black forest birthday cake

Confession: I really love black forest cake of the supermarket variety. It has been one of my favorites since I was a kid, but for my birthday this year I wanted something a bit more special to serve my friends after sushi dinner. Yesterday I turned 27 (yikes!) and together with my mom built a towering three layer black forest cake with heaps of whipped cream and cherries. We followed this recipe and I took the liberty of adding pink sprinkles and edible gold stars, which look like little constellations in the icing! This cake was pretty damn delicious but admittedly not as good as my pink cake from last year.

coco cake land

I first discovered the lovely Lyndsay of Coco Cake Land on Instagram and was so charmed by all of her adorable, edible creations. Lyndsay is a fellow Canadian who bakes and decorates gorgeous cakes, donuts, cookies, and pastries in the most beautiful color palettes. Her inspirations regularly include 1980s and '90s pop culture, as well as films such as those from Studio Ghibli (check out the amazing cat bus from Totoro below!). Lyndsay also makes super cute paper cake toppers and garlands to accessorize her desserts, creating a sweet aesthetic that always pleases me. I had a difficult time narrowing down my favorites for this post, so be sure to follow Coco Cake Land on Instagram and Pinterest too.

my pink birthday cake

This week I turned a whopping 26 years old and was lucky enough to spend the afternoon of my birthday (July 15) baking and decorating a cake with my dear mom. It's no secret that I am hopeless in the kitchen unlike my amazingly talented mother, so she deserves most of the credit here.

The recipe I chose came from the cover of this beautiful cookbook I gave my mom for Christmas, which features the aptly named "Pink Cake."

It's three layers of dark chocolate cake with fluffy raspberry buttercream icing in between, and somehow tasted even better than it looks. I added fresh berries as a final touch and only managed to take a few photos before digging in.

Several slices of cake were served to my friends before I finished it right off the platter in my post-birthday stupor.

sweet spectacle

 

I first came across a selection of gorgeous Lily Vanilli cakes on Instagram, but feel that they are best suited for a large format so as to appreciate all of their delicious details. Lily Jones owns a beautiful bakery in London which I'm determined to visit on my next trip across the pond, hopefully happening this spring! Until then these photos of Lily's creations piled high with fruits, frosting, and flowers will have to suffice. To fans of alliteration out there, you're very welcome for this post.

proper combo

Christ on a bike, this right here is the definition of magnificence as far as I'm concerned: Vosges chocolate egg filled with bacon caramel. Happy Easter!
(via UO)