Birthday "Cake"

So Ransomed Grace's birthday is this weekend, and the Firecracker Princess caught me off guard Tuesday morning. We were sitting at the table having breakfast, and she asked me who the gift bag sitting next to me was for. I told her it was for RG, because her birthday was coming up. Her eyes lit up and she said, "Oh mommy, what kind of cake are you going to make for her?". Um, gulp. Weeeeellll, I hadn't really thought about it. Firstly, I've only known RG for a month. Secondly, she is a FANTASTIC cook, and it's sort of intimidating to cook for someone whose every dish gets highest praise. Thirdly, well, I just dropped the ball. My daughter didn't, though, and I'm so grateful.

After the FP asked what she'd like, I told her we'd send her an email and ask. RG responded pretty quickly, and we ran to the store to get the things to make a dark chocolate New York style cheesecake. We came home and got our aprons on (though the CCM doesn't have one yet, so he just made a CRAZY mess of his shirt). I got everything out grabbed the camera, and we documented our journey to make a little book for RG.

Here are the pictures, and the text of the book we made:

Kids and Cake:
How it all comes together

Made with love by the Firecracker Princess
and the Chubby Cheeked Monster
(and we guess mom helped, too)
Special thanks to the Joyful Babe for sleeping during the making of this project.

Hi Ransomed Grace! We're so excited to make your birthday cheesecake; my brother couldn't keep his hands off of the chocolate. We wanted to show you how we did it!


Here's mom in her apron. Didn't I do a good job taking her picture? She says it's the only time you'll probably ever see her without makeup.



CCM's laughing because he knows a) mom still has her eyebrows drawn on and
b) there will be batter for obedient children to enjoy. Yay!



Momma and I in our aprons. Mine is red because it's my favorite color (ElleBee made it for me, along with my chef hat). CCM wanted to take pictures, but I wanted to get started on the cheesecake!



Here's our recipe. Mom had to read it, but we guess she put in the right stuff.


She makes us line up all the ingredients before we start, something about trying to make a carrot cake without carrots once. Silly mom.



A new pan, mom says that thing on the side is a "hinge". We picked green because it's the CCM's favorite color.


We washed our hands (with soap). Momma said you might not like the taste of 2- and 4-year-old fingers in your cake. Or 29-year-old fingers; she washed her hands too!


Mom pressed the crust into the pan while we ate the extra crumbs. Cookies with melted butter, yum!


We use only the finest ingredients, and our QA department is second to none. This cream cheese passes muster. Does yours, CCM?


Hmm, I think I'll need to try another sample. Yes, yes, I think this will do quite nicely. You may proceed.


We let mom put it into the oven because it's hot in there. We wanted to grab some spoons and dig in, but she said it's a surprise for you.



What's up with these dirty dishes? It's a good thing I'm a kid and can't wash them. Daddy will clean them right up when he gets home. Baking is a family affair in our household. Yay daddy!


Can I give you a birthday hug? No? Aww, man!



What about a birthday kiss, then? My sister already went to get cleaned up, but I'm happy to fill in for her!


OK, here it is with the toppping on. We hope that you enjoyed seeing us bake your cake, and we hope that it's tasty. Thanks for being so wonderful to our mom, she loves you a lot. Happy birthday!


We had so much fun with this little project, and even I have to admit that the cheesecake was tasty (RG and I cut into it RIGHT away when I got there yesterday). We love you, Ransomed Grace!