Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome's birthday arrived without a bang.  On the night of his actual birthday (Day 177), he had music rehearsal.  No celebrations.  No cake.  Nothing.

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:-(

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I'm a big fan of birthdays.  They are our own unique and special holiday.

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I decided that I needed to do something special for Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome.  I invited him over for dinner and birthday cake on Day 178.

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If I'm going to bake a birthday cake (which I haven't done in YEARS), then I'm going to do it right.  From scratch.  The old-fashioned way.  My Nana would be so proud.

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I googled "Best Birthday Cake" and found <strong><a href="http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/07/best-birthday-cake/" target="_blank">this delectable recipe at Smitten Kitchen</a></strong>.

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She had me at "smitten".

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I mean, if you're going to bake a birthday cake for a Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome, "smitten" would be an awfully nice outcome, no?

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I took the plunge and committed to this recipe.  I did not need to see any others.

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After 5 minutes of self-debate, I did opt to substitute the Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting with the Instant Fudge Frosting.  Some of Ms. Smitten's gazillion readers (Holy Comment Section, Batman!) commented that the sour cream frosting might be a wee bit too sour. I'm up for trying something interesting, but I wasn't willing to risk leaving a sour taste in Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome's mouth.

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<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Random "Baking a Cake from Scratch" Thoughts:</strong></span>

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Cakes reside in my favorite of all the food groups, the "sweet group".   Therefore, you may want to remember to add the sugar.  Luckily, I remembered at the final mix and no disaster ensued.  Whew!  Close call!

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"Sifting" is an anaerobic activity.  If I had not been cooking this cake for someone else, I would so have cheated and just mixed everything together.  How does a sift-less cake turn out I wonder.

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How is it that I even OWN a sifter???  Mom???  Did you pass this on to me at some point in my life?

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Buying a cake from the bakery is less expensive (and infinitely less time consuming) than baking your own.

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Investing your $$$, time, and soul into baking a cake from scratch is priceless.

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I need to frost this puppy (the cake, not Bella) in exactly 1/2 an hour so it's ready for when Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome arrives.  You mean I was supposed to let the cacao (how do you pronounce "cacao", anyway?) cool???  How did I not see this earlier.

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Open freezer, insert hot cacao.  Pray that you have not committed a cardinal Smitten Kitchen sin.

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This is ridic.

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This is a blast.

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I want to own bakery.

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Have I lost my mind?

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Ahhhh....This was worth it!

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