Birthday Cake- happiest of year's to you my love!

My wonderful husband, > James, celebrated his birthday this weekend. He is simply the best dad and husband a girl could ever ask for,not to mention an outstanding human being! We just love him so...

My father, a fabulous chef and great dad to boot, made the birthday cake, which received rave reviews. The cake recipe is from the > Chez Panisse Dessert book, and the gooey caramel frosting was inspired by a recipe from > The Gift of Southern Cooking.

For dinner we enjoyed Kobe beef rib-eye steaks from my dad's shop, > Coastal Seafoods, real French Fries (recipe adapted from > How to Cook Everything) a mixed green salad with apples, blue cheese and candied walnuts, and mulled cider to drink.

I was so busy bustling about the kitchen diligently watching the fries as they browned to perfection in a mixture of > leaf lard, coconut oil, and butter, that I didn't take any pictures of all this delicious food. Fortunately, my husband's friend and co-worker, Amy, snapped some up with her iphone. Here is the cake to make you wish that you too, could have it left over for breakfast!