I love baking and sharing desserts with friends, so if we were to enjoy these mini crustless pumpkin cheesecakes together, with some coffee, here are some of the topics we might discuss: books, podcasts, gratitude, and dogs (obviously). Of course, I prefer a conversation, so tell me your updates too.
Last October, I baked this cake for a Friendsgiving gathering. This October, I revisited the recipe to make a birthday cake for my mom. I rarely repeat recipes, but the frosting really is that good. Frosting aside, this cake is special because it's the first cake I've made for my mom, to celebrate her.
This cake was from one year ago. It's a belated post because I was busy living, busy saying yes to adventures that pushed me beyond my comfort levels. Belated because I chose to rest. Belated because I didn't quite have the right words yet, but everything comes at its due time. The due time for sharing this cake was one year later: a chocolate-hazelnut bookend. Revisiting these cake memories has been my way of reminiscing and celebrating Ben's special day until we can celebrate together.
The cake is light enough for breakfast and sweet enough for dessert, but I highly recommend taking an afternoon coffee and cake break, especially if you can share it with a friend.
I don't toss around superlatives like "game-changing" often, so believe me when I say this chocolate avocado frosting is worth trying. The almond-flour, avocado cake is so rich, creamy, moist, and chocolaty, I made it twice - once to celebrate my birthday in Florida and once to celebrate my birthday at a wintry cabin in Pennsylvania (I'm big on birthday celebrations).
Maybe Valentine’s Day makes you cringe, but I would encourage you to see the holiday as a gentle deadline for sending and showing love to friends, family, and romantic partners. This year, I’m harkening to my elementary school days, when we’d craft mailboxes, position them on our desks, then await the delivery of Valentine’s cards and a bounty of candy hearts.
This week, on Earth Day, my baby turned seven! She has become a literary number, a good luck number, a Biblical number. This week, the love of my dog reminds me that time, all time, even socially-distanced time, is extremely precious and not to be taken for granted.
I made these mini cakes to reclaim my birthday cake tradition but also as a way to choose life and joy instead of fear. It seems appropriate that now, as I'm sharing the recipe, the world is in the grips of fear. We're in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and when I start to feel overwhelmed, stressed, scared or all of the above, I remind myself to return to gratitude.