Today, I just want to pause and share Dayton's sweet Thomas the Train birthday party. The look on his face this morning when he came down to the house being decorated with Thomas and all his friends was beyond priceless!
Can't he just stay this age forever?
We invited family over for lunch after church. Thanks to a generous friend, we were stocked with awesome Thomas decorations. My parents are in town and are really the best help you could ever imagine. My house is cleaner after the party than when they arrived! We worked most of yesterday to prep for company and all the food.
I failed to snap a picture of the table with the food on it, but we served baked potatoes with chili and all the toppings! Such an easy, cheap and super filling lunch for a cool day. For the cupcakes, I used the following recipe for Hummingbird Cake adapted from the Paula Deen Celebrates! cookbook. This is one of my favorite cake recipes, but I needed it to stretch and feed a lot of people so cupcakes were in order.
Dayton's Birthday Cupcakes
Made 21 cupcakes (Could easily make 24)
Cake Ingredients
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
2 very ripe large bananas, mashed
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, with juice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 large eggs, beaten
Icing Ingredients
1 1-pound box confectioners' sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons milk
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Either grease cupcake tins or use cupcake liners.
3. Sift flour, baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt. (Don't skip this step as tempting as it may seem. This gives you a light and fluffy cake!)
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the cake ingredients. Stir well with a spoon until batter is mixed.
5. Fill each cupcake 2/3 full for 24 cupcakes. Bake for 25-30 minutes, checking for a clean toothpick to come out. Let rest for 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rake and cool completely.
6. Meanwhile, make the icing. Mix all ingredients with a mixer until smooth. Add more milk if too thick, but you do want an icing that stands on its own. Ice each cupcake with an offset spatula.
Here are a few more pictures from our sweet boy's celebration!
Such sweet, sweet family helped celebrate. The number of cousins keeps growing, and I wouldn't change it for the world!
We love you, baby boy! As much as I want you to stay little, I can't wait to watch you grow into a fun & exciting little boy! We are beyond blessed.
