Unicorn Cakes and Magical Pugs….

If you think the above photo is just too darn adorable, than scroll down and check out the one below.

Amazing right?

Keep scrolling.

They are just too much. I want to freeze time so that they both will stay like this forever.

Our February Babies.

Oh yes, this time Princess Leia got in on the Family Dinner Birthday celebrations too. After all, she was turning double digits…the big 1-0! (Or I guess, 70 in her case….)

So her fur-less cousin Maya was happy to be sharing her bday fam din with her. And as for our sweet Maya, she turned 13.

THIRTEEN!!!

I can’t…I seriously just can’t with the munchkins growing up so quickly.

Usually for your birthday, you get to choose what you’d like your dessert to be.

For Leia, it was a no-brainer. She’d be getting candles in a big ol’ steak like her cousin Bella.

But for Maya, I wanted to surprise her and told her “trust me, you’ll like it.” More on that later.

While we were milling around getting things prepped, we noshed on a Cheese Board that L assembled. It had Manchego with apricot preserves, Fromager d’Affinois, Picholine olives, marinated peppers and crackers.

N made the second appetizer. Truthfully, I can’t remember what it’s called but it’s like a Cheesy Spinach-Artichoke Bread Ring Dip. Picture this….take crescent roll dough and form little balls. Line a cast iron skillet with them and then fill the center with a super cheesy spinach-artichoke mixture. Bake it up and BOOM.

Cheesy goodness.

YES PLEASE!

Spotted: Unicorn Herd in their natural environment.

I think they were congregating because they knew it was DINNER TIME!!

Miss Maya was very relaxed about her whole birthday menu. This was pretty much our convo:

Me: What would you like to have for dinner?

Maya: Um….

Me: Seafood? Sushi? Pasta —

Maya: PASTA!

Me: Ok…what kind of pasta? Chicken? Shrimp? Steak —

Maya: STEAK!

And that was it! She’s pretty low maintenance.

V and T put their heads together and came up with this Grilled Steak over Puttanesca dish. It was hearty, flavorful and combined some of my most favorite things –steak, cheese and carbs.

And since Maya loves salads, seester T decided to make the Chopped Salad from Pizzeria Mozza.

Have you had it before? If not, you’ve got to try it!

It has all kinds of goodness like radicchio, lettuce, tomatoes, chickpeas, salami, pepperoncini and provolone. And it’s actually quite hearty that you could have it as a stand alone meal with perhaps some warm toasted baguette on the side.

And then before we knew it, it was dessert time!

I’ve always wanted to make a unicorn cake…blame it on Instagram I suppose. So when I was thinking of what to bake for Maya, Nini suggested a unicorn cake because it would be something that the birthday girl would absolutely love. And if anyone knows Maya, it’s definitely her big cousie Nini.

I realize that Buttercup’s horn (yes, Maya named the unicorn) is a bit excessive, but heck–I’m not sure when the next unicorn cake will come around again so I might as well GO BIG!

I first started off with the sponge and ended up choosing funfetti. Because c’mon, unicorns love rainbows and sprinkles right?

After I baked the three layers of cake, I took a taste and thought hmm…..it kind of just tasted like vanilla cake.

For those of you that like funfetti, this may not be a surprise. But I actually think that it may have been my first time tasting it. Don’t judge me…I’m a chocolate fan myself.

So to OOMPHF up the flavor, I decided to fill the layers with fresh whipped cream and strawberries –two things that I know for certain the bday girl also adores. And I’m totally glad that I did because it really brought something fresh to the cake.

Hey- if you’re going to be extra when baking a cake, it might as well be fore a unicorn cake!

The whole thing was then covered with a light layer of vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream (always my buttercream of choice) and then I went nuts decorating Buttercup with three shades of buttercream using various piping tips.

I used standard fondant to shape her horn, ears and eyes. And for the golden sheen, I used edible gold spray for the inner ear accents as well as her magical horn.

Cute right? I wish my eyelashes were as on-point as Buttercup.

And of course, because she’s so magical, she was dusted with lots of different sprinkles and edible gold stars.

To be honest, I had a lot of fun making this cake!

And let’s not forget the other birthday girl!

Princess Leia got a bone-in ribeye steak that V grilled.

Seriously, look at that face.

And unlike her food-mongering puggle cousin, she sat patiently waiting while we sang and took pictures before diving in. What a good puppers!

It’s fair to say that the birthday girls thoroughly enjoyed their family dinner in their honor.

Princess Leia wearing a crown while seated on a plush thrown…..

Maya wearing a floral-kitty headband from when she was about 1 or 2….

Heart-melty….

Yes, we’re a bit over-the-top kind of family. But if you’ve been with me for awhile, you’ve likely come to that conclusion already. It’s how we roll….

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Happy Birthday Maya and Leia! ❤

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This Month’s Family Dinner Menu

Cocktails: Various Wine
Appetizers: Cheese Board, Cheesy Spinach-Artichoke Bread Ring Dip
Sides: Chopped Salad à la Pizzeria Mozza
Entrees: Grilled Steak over Puttanesca
Dessert: Funfetti-Strawberries and Cream Unicorn Cake (And a Steak for the fur babies!)