Happy Birthday Joshua

Today is my older son Joshua's 7th birthday. He has been baking with me since he was 2, and lately we've been joined by little brother Owen in our cooking. Josh wants one of his Big Top Cupcakes for his birthday today, but I found those little slider cupcakes at Target yesterday and couldn't resist getting those either. They are just cupcakes cut in half with pudding for the 'burger' with green, yellow, and red frosting to decorate. They even had sesame seeds on top. Delicious!

Josh asked me to put up a recipe for the Big Top Cupcake pan - their version of Boston Cream Cake

2 packages yellow cake mix

1 package Vanilla Instant Pudding

Ganache (below)

Cherries and Whipped Cream for decorating

Bake cake mix in big top cupcake pan (or whatever pans you have, according to mix directions)

Scoop out some of bottom layer and fill with vanilla instant pudding.

Ganache:

8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tbs. unsalted butter

Place chocolate pieces in medium, stainless steel bowl.  Set aside.  Heat cream and butter over medium heat - bring to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream mixture over the chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes.  Stir with a whisk until smooth. Brush any loose crumbs from the cake and cover the top cake with 2 tablespoons of the Ganache. Refrigerate for 5 minutes.  Complete frosting the top cake with the remaining ganache. 

Everyone seems to be on the mend here which is good as J has a soccer game today and a friend party tomorrow at the local skating rink. We are even going to put skates on the 2 year old! Tomorrow we will have a guest blog post here from my friend writer Margot Justes. It is a delicious fudge recipe...