Today (or at least the day I write it, the 24th of November) is the birthday of a special friend. He’s the husband of a friend and the father of two girls who are well represented in my sometime-series “In the kitchen with juliyya.” I’ve made birthday cakes for him and his family since they were my neighbors on Jones Avenue in Seattle and continue that tradition even though I’ve moved a few miles away.
His mother often made his birthday cakes of layers of chocolate and vanilla cakes, as I did a previous year. This year I decided to do something a bit different because my neighbor told me about the use of the original Marshmallow Fluff on a slice of bread with peanut butter and my baking mind said, “put it on cake.” It’s made in a factory in East Lynn, Massachusetts where my lovely neighbor was a child and she said it’s not the same as “ordinary” marshmallow creme. I found it for sale on the behemoth, ordered a jar for her and one for me to use in this cake. There it is on the bottom layer, having given me a hard time in applying it! Rebel Fluff.
After the Fluff was done arguing with me, I applied a layer of homemade butterscotch filling on top of it, and after that was done, a layer of white cake got the same treatment. The top layer was German chocolate cake, but no goo on it. However, before I completely frosted the cake with Ellensburg Chocolate Cake’s frosting — Sour Cream Chocolate — I prepped six cupcakes with a spoonful of both fillings into a cave made with a melon scooper.
Yep, my plan was to frost the cake and the cupcakes one after the other when the frosting was ready, then put the cupcakes atop the frosted cake and decorate with Rolos and candles.
He phoned me after their family dinner to express wonder and appreciation for my efforts and say that he was taking the cupcakes with him for a beer with his fishing buddies. I said, “Cupcakes go with beer?” and he replied in the affirmative. Mind you, it was only 6 PM, so it was really dessert with the chaps and then a beer on his birthday while the girls stayed home and did some prep work for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.
Postscript: He told me that their oldest daughter was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, where the original Marshmallow Fluff was invented and trademarked! I was so surprised about this fun bit of a coincidence.
If you want to try making this, here’s the guideline:
Ms Chef in Seattle 