Cake Therapy

Someday, when I open my own bakery in New York City and wear fur and am a very important person, I will call said bakery Cake Therapy.  I think the title is self-explanatory. I have also decided that I need more cake in my life. I mean, I need more cake baking in my life.

I also need more chocolate. Chocolate is good. Chocolate cake is even better.
My intention was to make red velvet cake, but I once heard that artificial dyes contribute to ADHD, and frankly, I can’t afford to take any chances.
So then I thought, Devil’s Food Cake, but I had my heart set on cream cheese frosting, and the thought of combining the two made me a bit sick to my stomach.
So, since I have very little experience making layer cakes, I thought I’d start simply: chocolate.
Somewhere during my project I remembered something: I think chocolate cake is weird. It’s not a brownie, so it’s not fudgey, and it’s not chocolate candy, so it’s not…chocolate! So maybe this chocolate cake didn’t turn out like a brownie, but the texture was nice and fluffy (thanks to separating the eggs and folding in the beaten whites at the last minute), didn’t crumble, and most importantly, held its frosting poi-fectly. I think the frosting is the best part, anyway. And that’s why I made two kinds:

Coffee Cream Frosting- This tastes like coffee ice cream in the best way possible. 
4 ounces softened cream cheese
2 ounces softened butter
One teaspoon vanilla extract
Two cups powdered sugar, divided
One third cup extra strong coffee, cooled

Beat together the butter and cream cheese. Add the vanilla and the powdered sugar, one half cup at a time. At one cup, add the coffee, beat, and add the rest of the sugar. Let sit in the refrigerator while your cakes cool. Frosts one eight inch cake.

 Peanut Butter Frosting- Super sweet, but nice for nutty people. 
2 ounces softened butter
1/8 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 teaspoons milk
One and a half cups powdered sugar

Cream together the butter and peanut butter; add the vanilla. Alternately add the powdered sugar, one half cup at a time, with the milk, and beat until smooth. Refrigerate for at least thirty minutes, then frost your eight inch cake.

The thing that is so great to me about baking, and all cooking for that matter, is that it is so easy to make someone smile and teach myself something new in the process. With that it mind, I am going to try to make more cakes, for which there are infinite possibilities and always reasons. At least something in my life makes sense.