Birthday Cake for Boss...

I don't know what has come over me. I think it's reading all these darn beautiful food blogs but I'm like a woman possessed! I have to, have to, have to...BAKE. My boss, Michael, had his birthday on Friday and I offered to bake his birthday cake. I asked him what he didn't like, what he liked...and then I picked something that I liked better. Whaaaat?? I have to at least make him think that he's part of the decision making process. Job security.

He did mention that he liked "fruity" cakes. Having worked at a bakery for many years, I automatically thought of the fresh fruit filled cakes with custard. Knowing Michael, however, I realized that he's just not the fresh fruit kinda guy. He much prefers the preserves/jammy sweetness to fresh fruit which may or may not be sweet.

I cooked up a batch of Raspberry jam mostly because I just like the deep red color and partly because my boss had specified that he liked raspberries. I had two requests for chocolate cake - one from my boss and the other from my boss' boss (Jack). I decided to go with a white cake instead. (For those who are wondering - yes, this is EXACTLY what it's like to have me as an employee...)

I can't seem to get past the 1-2-3-4 cake from the back of the Swan's Down box. The raspberry recipe was actually really easy that I found on epicurious and adjusted for taste by adding meyer lemon zest and less sugar. And the Swiss Buttercream frosting recipe from Smitten Kitchen is the BEST frosting recipe I've ever had the pleasure of using. It's not overpoweringly sweet at all and goes onto cakes like a dream. I don't know if I'll ever use another frosting again.

I'm happy to report that no one died from food poisoning from my attempts at baking. The biggest disaster of the day was the fact that I dropped the 1/2 eaten piece of cake on my super cute shoes. SIGH. I was forced to cut myself another piece and start over again.