Gooey Butter Cake and Caramel Cake

In the newlywed chaos, two cakes have emerged since my last cake event. They were nothing as complicated as the 108 Oreo Cake or the infamous Cookie Dough Cake, but they were certainly delicious.

For winter finals: Paula Deen’s gooey butter cake with sliced strawberries on top.

For spring midterms: Caramel Cake from Our Best Bites, which I also added sliced strawberries to.

Of the two, the Caramel Cake was definitely the more delicious of the two. I’m finding that if you let yellow cake sit for a day before eating it, the flavors mingle in a wonderful way. Such was true with this cake, and the Cookie Dough Cake as well. And I wouldn’t recommend omitting the strawberries on top with the caramel cake. They’re a must-have, per usual.

These are both great cakes to make if you're looking for something awesome, but less time consuming than the 108 or the Cookie Dough.  Sadly, I didn't take pictures of either of these cakes. But here's a picture I'm quite fond of. 

I don't know what exactly it says about our relationship, but I'm pretty sure it says good things. 

The Best Things from My Birthday Month

1. Snow on the orchards, not on the roads. Sun everywhere.

2. I took a trip to JoAnn by myself. All the things I needed were on sale and in stock. But the best thing? Three very happy ladies surrounding me in line as well as two very happy children. Their kindness and smiles were infectious and warm. May their new years be blessed.

3. My mom made me buttermilk syrup and pancakes. I told her we're not allowed to worry about the effects of corn syrup on my birthday.

4. My brother and I laughed at Mormon memes and the Hey Girl tumbler.

5. Getting wished happy birthday by Super twice—once on New York time and once on Utah time. Super and I share the same birthday! Wild, I know. It's pretty much worked wonders for making my birthday a much more enjoyable day.

6. My grandpa giving me "hamburger money."

7. Getting a birthday text from my cousin Nan in the middle of the night.

8. Having our sink filled with pink water from the red velvet cake my mom made.

9. Watching Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs with my family.

10. My dad's perfect hexagonal wrapping job.

11. My brother coming to say good night when he got home in the middle of the night.

12. Hearing Super remind me how much he loves me and truly feeling loved by a wonderful man. 

13. Lunch with Elisabeth and her gift of a dinosaur sandwich maker.

14. Dinner with my good friend Jamie. If you ever think, gee I want to go to Tucanos, but I don't want to come back with a zero balance in my bank account, try Braza Express! Slightly more authentic Brazilian food for nearly a third of the price. It is very, very yummy, and there's a great atmosphere about the place with really nice people putting your food together.

15. A party with my friends! Sitting around chatting was a truly sweet moment for me. There was also lots of great food. I invented something that worked out for once! Well, first I tried to make brownies in muffin top pans, which is possible but didn't work that well for me. So then I crushed those brownies into chunks, added sliced strawberries, and a dollop of this great buttercream frosting (the best buttercream frosting ever). It was lovely.

We also made Brazilian lemonade using a bottle of Minute Maid strawberry lemonade and a can of sweetened condensed milk. It was a bit too sweet, but the color was gorgeous.