Sixtieth Birthday Party

My pops turned 60 earlier this month. We threw him a big surprise party. And even with all the cooking and preparation we did, he (shockingly) was surprised! We really went all out too; it's quite something that we still managed to surprise him.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Whoops, I forgot to post this after the other Passover cake, so I may not have entirely retained the details. But really, a nut free, gluten free, chocolate cake. Rich, dense, moist--almost brownie like. What more is there to say?

Topped with whipped cream, it is a decadent treat for Passover or any time of year.

Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Sugar

These are classic blueberry muffins with a slight twist, lemon zest in the batter and lemon sugar on top. The subtle tang of the lemon complements the sweet blueberries and the baking soda-y muffin nicely. Of course I don't like blueberries, so these weren't thrilling to me. That's okay though, I made these primarily to give away--so the fact that I didn't love them was quite helpful. And I got plenty of complements on them, so I assume that they were very nice if you like such things.

Birthday Treats

Not only did I get my chocolate peanut butter cake, I also got some goodies. My favorite frozen yogurt at a cute little place on the water (chocolate-hazelnut with chocolate jimmies.)

Peanut butter chocolate pudding pie at Dinosaur BBQ. Amazing pie! (And amazing dinner including poutine and catfish strips, not pictured here. If you ever go, I recommend their ultimate BLT, with house smoked bacon and fried green tomatoes.)

And visiting friends in NYC, I go treated to Magnolia Bakery's icebox cake (yum!)

And four fancy rugalah from a cute place on the Upper East Side (I don't remember the name, sorry.) From left to right: raspberry and farmer's cheese, apple pie, cinnimon, nutella. I think. In any case, a great way to prolong the birthday celebration!

Chocolate, chocolate chip, fudge muffins

These are very good. These are rich, moist, chocolate muffins with mini chocolate chips tossed in. These are topped with a fudgy chocolate glaze. That's it. Chocolate, chocolate chip, fudge muffins.

Need I say more?