Peanut Butter Pumpkin Puppy Cake

Happy Birthday Ellie! 

I can't believe Ellie is 4 years old today, I remember when she was just a puppy so that's why I made her a peanut butter pumpkin puppy cake.  I modified this recipe from the cake I made for Buddy's 10th birthday.  I know these dogs are spoiled!  Ellie is so lucky today because she is also featured on Pretty Fluffy's Daily Fluffy - http://prettyfluffy.com/2012/08/daily-fluffy-look-at-this-mess/!  How cool is that?  Ellie sure can be a troublemaker sometimes but I love her anyway (and so does her brother Buddy).

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Puppy Cake

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup peanut butter, natural

1/8 cup vegetable oil

½ cup applesauce

½ cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

For the Frosting

½ cup greek yogurt, plain

dog treats for decoration

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda.

Add in the remaining ingredients and mix with a spatula.

 

Pour batter into loaf pan.  Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

 

Cool on a wire rack.  (I cut the cake into the shape of a dog bone with a serrated knife.)

 

Cool completely before frosting.

Frost with plain greek yogurt.  Top with dog treats.

Ellie loves it and so does Buddy!

Mmmmmm!  Happy 4th Birthday Ellie!

Don't forget to check out Ellie on Pretty Fluffy's Daily Fluffy!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I love carrot cake and whenever I go to a cupcakery, I always pick a carrot cake cupcake if available.   And yes, I said cupcakery!  There are several of them in DC and so far I have visited Georgetown Cupcake, Baked and Wired, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Red Velvet Cupcakery, and Cakelove.  I still haven't tried the vegan cupcakes at Sticky Fingers, but I plan to in the near future!  I have heard they are really good and because they are vegan, does that mean I can eat 2 cupcakes?  :)  Since I had extra shredded carrots from making Buddy's birthday cake this weekend, I thought I would try making my own carrot cake cupcakes.  I even tried to make them more healthy by using agave instead of sugar and applesauce instead of oil.  They turned out pretty good, but the cream cheese frosting really makes them extra delicious!  I also tried to make the frosting more healthy by using neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese.  I didn't even taste a difference.  Enjoy these healthier cupcakes!

 

Ingredients

1 ½ cup flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2/3 cup agave (I used Wholesome Sweetener’s Organic Raw Blue Agave.)

½ cup applesauce

2 eggs

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups shredded carrots

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, mix flower, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon with a whisk.

In another larger bowl, mix agave, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla.  Slowly fold in dry ingredients with the whisk until fully mixed. 

 Next, using a spatula, fold in shredded carrots.

Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cups. 

 

Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.   Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

 

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

8 ounces neufchatel cheese, at room temperature (You may use cream cheese.)

3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions

With an electric mixer, mix together cheese and butter until smooth.  Using a spatula, scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.  Add the vanilla extract.  Slowly add in the powdered sugar.  Mix until smooth.  Frost cooled cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe with a star tip like what I did.

P.S. I stored these in the fridge, when ready to serve, just take them out about 30 minutes beforehand to let them get to room temperature.

Dog Birthday Cake

Happy 10th Birthday Buddy!  I had to make Buddy a special dog birthday cake this year for his 10th birthday.  Does this really make him 70 in dog years??  He sure doesn't act like it!  I have made this dog cake before for Buddy and Ellie's past birthdays and its really simple.  I frosted the cake with cottage cheese and decorated the cake with dog biscuits and extra shredded carrots.  I also used peanut butter to write on the cake.  Buddy (and Ellie) could not wait to eat this cake!  You should definitely make this for your dog's next birthday or any day really :)

Ingredients

1 egg

¼ cup peanut butter

½ cup applesauce

1/3 cup honey

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Optional Frosting:

Cottage cheese

Peanut butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, add flour and baking soda and use a whisk to mix dry ingredients.  Next add in the remaining ingredients.  Stir to mix well.

 

Pour cake batter into an 8x8 inch baking dish.  You can use a similar sized baking dish/pan of your choice.

 

Bake for 30 minutes.  (If you make cupcakes, it would probably take about 18-20 minutes to bake.)

For the frosting – Spread the cottage cheese over the cake.  I put some peanut butter in a plastic sandwich bag and snipped a corner of the bag to use for piping on the cake.

 

Feel free to decorate with extra shredded carrots, dog biscuits, or your dog’s regular kibble.

Store in refrigerator until ready to serve. 

 Special beef bones for Buddy's birthday present (of course his little sister gets one too)!

Yummmmm!

Happy dogs...