Birthdays and Bakery cakes

 

When I was a little girl my mother would give me the choice of cake for my birthdays.  While some of my siblings picked cake mix-homemade cakes, I always chose a bakery cake from our local bakery.  I did this because I loved butter cream and the way they decorated with all the pretty edging designs and pretty, colorful roses.  I would always be in awe when my mother brought the cake home and opened the box.  It was so pretty, a work of art I thought.  And I felt special having a cake made and decorated just for me.

I wonder if those desires and cake experiences influenced my love of baking and creating pretty things.
Now as an adult, I rarely buy bakery cakes, because I've learned to make them myself.  I don't mind making my own cake, because its what I love to do.  Thanks Mom for getting me those cakes and fostering this love of baking :)
Today for my birthday I made a simple Whoopie Pie cake, garnished with chocolate shavings, yummy!

I used 1/4 of my favorite whoopie pie recipe and used 2 icecream scoops of batter for each whoopie cookie.  For the shavings, I grated bittersweet chocolate on the largest side of a cheese grater.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/foodnation-with-bobby-flay/whoopie-pies-recipe/index.html?soc=share