How Sweet It Is.

Nothing says birthday like sprinkles on a cupcake!

26 is lookin' pretty good now.

To sprinkle or not to sprinkle, that was the question... so I did both : )

We had 4 birthdays in the span of a week and lots of cake! This is a layered yellow and devil's food cake with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream.

I love making birthday cakes. What's better than a sweet, edible, flaming symbol of your love and appreciation for them?!

And for my 31 year old husband... a giant cookie of course!

Have your cake and wear it too!

A very happy un-birthday to you all!

Swiss Meringue Buttercream-

Please refer to the Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Hi-Hats post from April :)

To make Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream, follow the recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream omitting the vanilla extract, decreasing the sugar to 1 cup, and adding 8 ounces melted best-quality bittersweet chocolate after the butter has incorporated (let chocolate cool slightly before mixing in).

I actually didn't omit the cup of sugar and just added melted chocolate to taste. Just make sure you wait until the chocolate has cooled so that it doesn't melt the butter in the buttercream. If you do see separation after you have made the buttercream, whip at medium-high speed until smooth.

For the swirls on the cupcakes I used a star tip, and made rosettes by making little circle swirls.