Valentine's Fun

This was our special Valentine's dessert - we actually had it Sunday, but it was worth the wait! I have the recipe at the bottom of this post because it really is that good. The cake recipe is from Southern Living and it ALWAYS works and it ALWAYS tastes good. It's fun to dress it up differently - this is what we did with it for Valentine's!

All that cake made us a little sleepy ... ahhhhhh, nappy time!

Ohhhh - I just want to nibble on those toes!

Now, turning back the clock to Friday, this is Thing 1 trying to figure out what is going on at her class party ... I loved that look on her face and snapped a quick shot.

She figured out what was going on and "jumped" right in on the fun!

She even helped The Boy have a fun time.

Thing 2 was also there - here she is running in the halls - I figure I can use this as blackmail - I'll show it to her principal if she starts slackin' at home.

Don't you love those little hats they made - class parties were a huge success!!!

They even let The Boy play Bingo! He was pretty happy! (and he won - he didn't realize he had won, but he won)

Now, the recipe for Perfectly Easy Golden Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

2 cups self-rising flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

fresh strawberries

Method:

First: set oven to 350F and grease and flour your baking pans (I use 3 round pans).

Beat sugar and oil in mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, until nicely blended. Add flour and milk (a little bit at a time) alternating between the two, beginning and ending with flour. When it is all blended, set the mixer at medium and let it mix for 4 minutes. When it's done, stir in the vanilla.

Spoon in the cake mixture evenly into your cake pans, thump them on the counter a few times to get out air bubbles and pop them in the oven. Bake for about 24 minutes, they will be a lovely golden yellow and slightly bouncy if you poke your finger in the middle of the cake. You can also do the toothpick test.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to cooling racks.

NOTE ... I took a little tip from Bakerella - in working with layers, I sprayed some sugar water on the top of each layer to help maintain its moisture - easy to do and is a great little trick.

I put down my first layer, sprayed with sugar water, covered with a light layer of buttercream frosting (whipping cream would be a much lighter alternative and taste just as good, maybe even better - although I would probably eat more because it wasn't as rich) and then covered that with sliced strawberries. I did another layer just the same. The third layer was sprayed and frosted, then I just put strawberry halves all over the top. I didn't frost the sides because that would have been tooooooo much, even I have my limits. It was perfect just the way it was.

Serve it up with a glass of milk, eat, enjoy, and then take the left over half to your sister-in-law and her family because you will eat the rest if it stays in your home! Get a hug and kiss from your darling niece for providing a dessert for them, too!

Moist, flavorful, pretty and delish!