Happy Birthday Jacob!

Last Friday was Jacob's birthday and there were several creative projects worth sharing, including my favorite Black Russian cake recipe. It's very moist and has a chocolaty-bitter-boozy-raspberry-heavenly flavor to it. Here's how I do it...

1 (18.25 ounce) package moist yellow cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix (this is the big one guys)
1 c. oil
1/4 c. vodka
1/2 c. kahlua
3/4 c. water
4 eggs
more kahlua :)
confectioners' sugar
a bunch of raspberries (frozen, fresh, or in a pie filling)

All you have to do is mix up the package of cake mix, pudding mix, oil, eggs, water, vodka and kahlua in a big bowl. Then you bake it in a greased and floured bunt pan at 350 for 50 minutes. While it's in the oven, mix up some kahlua and powdered sugar (maybe a cup or so?) Also mix up your raspberries in a separate bowl with some powdered sugar to create a berry topping (you can add some water too - you want them to be sort of saucy). Leave the cake in the bundt pan and poke the bottom with a fork to create some holes and pour the kahlua glaze over the top. Let this sit for at least an hour, so it can soak in. When you're ready to serve it, put the cake on a platter and put the raspberries all over the top and sprinkle with powdered sugar to make it beautiful. Then enjoy!


Mmmmmm... it's sooooo good! I think I actually like it leftover better, because the kahlua sort of does this caramelizing thing in the cake and it's just glorious.

I was really happy with how Jacob's birthday present turned out. It's sort of non-practical and artsy, so I also gave him a camp chair and a manly plaid shirt, so I wouldn't feel guilty about giving him something that I might like more than he does. He is from Petoskey, MI , which is at the very, very top of the lower part of Michigan right on the edge of beautiful Lake Michigan. He is always talking about the lake and it's beaches, so I decided to give him a little portable piece of Lake Michigan. I got my inspiration from Design Sponge and ended up basically copying what I saw because I loved it so much. I definitely might love this more that Jake does... is that bad? Anyway, I had this artist from Etsy custom-create this beautiful glass pyramid box for me. She was so incredibly helpful and nice, and her prices are fantastic! I highly recommend her. Inside of the box I placed objects from that beach that Jake's mom collected for me including some driftwood, a seagull feather, a genuine Petoskey stone, a skipping rock and some beautiful beach sand. I think it turned out well. He said he loved it. Maybe when he becomes a teacher, he can use it as a paperweight. Right now, it's sitting by the window and reflecting light all over out living room :)