The Cake Merchant

Mini Funfetti Birthday Cakes

FunfettiBFFF-2

It’s birthday week here at The Cake Merchant, and I can’t think of a better way to start the week than with a post over at Best Friends For Frosting. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that I love layer cakes and miniature desserts. These mini funfetti birthday cakes combine both of these things.

Tomorrow is my actual birthday, but I like to prolong the celebration, so this week is sure to be filled with lots of sugar and gluttony! Stay tuned for more birthday cakes, but for now, click over to Best Friends For Frosting for this Mini Funfetti Layer Cake recipe.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Trifles

Are you tired of miniature desserts in shot glasses? If so, you’re probably not going to like this post, because I’m bringing you another one. These 2.5 oz shot glasses were the perfect sized container for a rich dessert. Just large enough to satisfy your sweet tooth, but not so large that it sends you into hyperglycemic shock. Plus, I just really love miniature desserts.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Trifles _

Sometimes, I really crave peanut butter. I’m guilty of spooning it into my mouth straight from the jar, and I had been dreaming about peanut butter pudding for weeks before I actually made this. If you’ve never made your own pudding, it really is a revelation, and totally worth the effort. It’s a step up from the pre-packaged store bought stuff, but it’s no less comforting.

I paired the peanut butter pudding with chocolate because, well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I had been wanting to try Deb Perlman’s chocolate pudding recipe for a while. It’s less rich than my go to recipe, since it doesn’t contain egg yolks, and went really well with the peanut butter. But let’s be honest, is there ever a time when chocolate and peanut butter don’t go well together?

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6-inch Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cake with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cake

It’s hard to believe that a up until a few years ago, I had never had red velvet cake. Since moving to Texas, I have made (and eaten) more than my fair share of the stuff, and while I was reluctant to jump on the red velvet band wagon at first, I’m officially a fan. The cream cheese frosting that is usually paired with it is just an additional bonus.

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cake

This is the first time I have used this particular recipe for Red Velvet, which is originally from the popular Brooklyn Bakery Cake Man Raven. It has less cocoa in it than other recipes I’ve tried, so the color is a very bright red. I added some chocolate chips to the batter to amp up the chocolate flavor and add some texture, but if you don’t like chocolate chips (is this even possible?!) feel free to leave them out. I liked them so much that I decided not to frost the outside of the cake just so that they could be seen. For cleaner looking layers, I spread some frosting in between the layers and then piped a ring around the outside of each layer with a large round pastry tip.

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