Champagne Toasts on the California Coast

“All the world is a birthday cake…so take a piece. But not too much!”                                       George Harrison

For Mom’s birthday she wanted only a few things:
1. All her kids must be in one place—my brother from Los Angeles, my sister from San Diego, and me from San Francisco.
2. We all must toast with her favorite champagne cocktail.
3. Dessert will be a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.
Done! If she has the magical ability to bring her children together from three different cities for a one night celebration filled with good food, good laughs, and The Four Tops radio station on Pandora—then she must be worth it :)

Triple Layer Chocolate Cake



Yellow Cake Mix
Ingredients:
4 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Directions:
Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt
Add half the flour mixture slowly to the butter mixture in a large bowl or mixer, then add half of the milk and all of the vanilla
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
Add the rest of the flour mixture, and the rest of the milk
Fill three greased baking pans half way full
Bake at 375 degrees 25-35 minutes

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
Directions:
Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth
Mix in powdered sugar, one cup at a time
Mix in cocoa powder
*Use the palm of your hand to attach chocolate chips to the side of the cake. Fill in the spots by hand where frosting looks bare.

Champagne Cocktails

Take one sugar cube and place it in the bottom of a champagne flute. Saturate the sugar cube with 2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters. Fill with champagne.

Cheers, Mom!
-Bay