Somebody Turned Three Years Old

August 20, 2013: Betty is THREE!  That's supposed to be a milestone for many types of dogs; a time when they mellow and mature and chill the heck out.  We'll see.  For now we're encouraging her to act like a polite young lady. Again, we'll see.

I used three (3) puppy-sized, bone-shaped biscuits for candles which she "blew out" one at a time. We cut the cake about 40-60 to share with her sister.

While we didn't throw a party or wear tutus, I did still make special birthday treats: PUPCAKES!  The recipe made two (2) dozen (12) mini cupcakes and once regular sized, which we presented her when we sang happy birthday.

We had fun plans to walk down to the creek for a wade where I imagined getting well-lit, adorable pictures of the birthday girl, but it was just way to smokey from the Lolo Fires* to spend much time at all outside.

I used this recipe that I found on allrecipes.com via pinterest:

1 egg
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup cooking oil (I substituted unsweetened apple sauce)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup honey (optional and I left it out)
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350F (I did 325 since I was doing cupcakes instead of a cake). Grease 6-cup ring mold (or grease or put papers in your cupcake tin)

2. Combine egg, peanut butter, oil/apple sauce, vanilla, and honey (if using) in a large bowl, blend well.

3. Stir in the carrots and mix thoroughly.

4. In a separate bowl, sift flour and baking soda together then fold into the carrot mixture. (I did all of this in the KitchenAid mixer)

5. Spoon into cake mold or cupcake tins.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 40 mins (I did about 20 for the mini cupcakes and 25 for the regular-sized one).  The directions didn't suggest it, but I used the old toothpick test to see if they were done.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then move to rack until completely cool.

I read a few different dog cake frosting recipes online and then just made one up.  It's about a cup of low-fat cottage cheese and a somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 cup of creamy peanut butter; I had some extra that I mixed into their meals for a few days.  First, I smashed the curds with a wooden spoon against the sides of a bowl, then I stirred in the peanut butter.  It worked pretty well in the pastry bag, but it wasn't as smooth as regular people cake frosting. I was pleased with how it held its shape.

Finally, I topped then with puppy-sized, bone-shaped dog treats from the store. Put them in an airtight storage container and then into the fridge.

NOTE: This is more like dough than batter and I wish I'd pressed it into the cupcake papers a bit to make it both more cupcake shaped and perhaps to get the papers to stick to it just a little. Most of them ended up sitting in the papers more like I'd added them afterwards.

This is the plate I took to the neighbor dogs.  These are those on which papers were the tidiest. 

All the ingredients are human grade and maybe if I'd used the honey they'd have been passable human food, but I think the best way to describe the taste is "good for you."  By which I mean bland and with a slightly grainy texture.  The Beastie Grrrlz love them, though!  And I took some to one of our neighbors and her dogs seemed to love them, too.  In fact, their HUMONGOUS Great Dane/Mastiff/Scared-y Cat Mix got closer to me than ever before and even gave me a lick (well after I gave her a treat).

Now I have to figure out what to make for Delia's 2nd birthday in just a couple of weeks!


*

View from the front deck this mornng: no sky, no valley, slight smokey smell in the air. House is closed up with all of us in it to minimize the throat, lung, sinus and eye irritations.