today is a special day, part two.

Reason number three today is a special day: It is my best friend's birthday.

My best friend, H, is completely amazing. She is one of the only people who 'gets' me and I am pretty sure that feeling goes in both directions. She is an amazing mother, a loving girlfriend, and the best friend a girl could ask for. We have had plenty of adventures, laughs, and cake eating... What is a best friend if you do not do your fair share of cake eating?!? Another bonus: I can order pizza without consulting her first because I know she is the only other person who likes pineapple on their pizza.

Ham, I hope you have the greatest, bestest, most wonderfullest birthday in the history of birthdays. I love you lots and lots and will see you later for a chow down which includes cake, duh.

{The perfect BFF: Posing with statues of bears with fruit on their heads.}

{The perfect BFF: Frequent concert going. Rascal Flatts, 2006.}

{Kenny Chesney, 2007}

{Kenny Chesney, 2007.}

{Brooks and Dunn, 2010.}

{The perfect BFF: Random selfies.}

{The perfect BFF: Holiday Parties.}

{The perfect BFF: Appreciating a good plate of nachos.}

{The perfect BFF: Feeding small hounds Doritos while drunk.}

{The perfect BFF: Resourcefulness when it comes to cake eating.}

{The perfect BFF: Frequent trips to one of your favorite places on earth.}

In honor of Hamson turing the big 2-7, I am sharing my favorite chocolate cake recipe courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa.

Ingredients:

Butter and flour for greasing the pan

1 3/4 cups all-pupose flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk*

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 extra-large eggs, room temperature**

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup of freshly brewed hot coffee***

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8" round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.****

2. Combine all dry ingredients and mix in an electric mixer.

3. In a separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients with the exception of the coffee and add to dry mixture. Mix on a low speed until combine and then pour in your coffee. (The batter will be runny and that is absolutely okay, I promise.)

4. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 30-40 minutes.

5. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes than turn them out and let them completely cool on a wire rack.

6. Frost accordingly. :)

*In my opinion using the real deal buttermilk instead of the milk & vinegar or milk & lemon option makes it taste better.

**I have always used large eggs instead of extra-large eggs with this recipe and it always turns out great.

***Hot coffee is the key here so do not omit it! I promise you won't really be able to taste it and it brings out the chocolate flavor of the cake. (And that is coming from someone who is not a coffee fan.)

****This recipe can also be used for cupcakes. It will make roughly 2 dozen cupcakes. They should only bake for about 30 minutes, maybe even less. I baked them for 40 minutes and dried them out a little bit. :(

I have not found a chocolate frosting recipe that I am completely in love with yet. Today I am going to try Williams Sonoma chocolate buttercream recipe. It can be found here.

I'll update later with how that recipe turns out. 

And here's the update:

So the chocolate frosting recipe isn't too bad. Still not my fave but it was good for B's birthday bash. It is super duper sweet... Almost too sweet to use on chocolate cake. And, it makes a TON of frosting. I used the recipe to frost H's cupcakes and then froze the rest to frost B's cupcakes for his birthday and I still threw out like half of the frosting! I recommend cutting the recipe in half.

That being said, I am still on the hunt for good frosting recipes. If you have one please share it in the comments!