Get Your Paws Off My Cake!

We're reading doggy-themed books this week and reminiscing over E's 3rd birthday party. In our family, the cake is always the most anticipated part of the party... other than the presents, that is. Our little puppies drooled with anticipation over these delicious puppy paw-print cupcakes!

I used a boxed chocolate cake mix to make up a batch of cupcakes. I'm not a fan of canned frosting, so I found a great recipe for cream cheese frosting. (Unfortunately, I didn't think of saving that recipe, so I have no clue which of the 698,000 recipes out there I used. I'm sure they're all delicious; I mean, cream cheese and sugar? Got to be good.)

To assemble the cupcakes, I spooned the frosting into a ziplock bag and snipped off the corner to pipe the frosting onto the cupcake in a swirl pattern. One thin mint (stock up now - they freeze!) and four Jr. Mints placed on top created the paw print.

So easy and so yummy, our guests couldn't wait to dive in!

E picked off the minty portions of the cupcake, but the other kids (and the moms!) gobbled them up! You know what else we gobbled up (how's that for a transition?)...

You're A Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day

Have you seen the Good Dog, Carl books? These classics follow Carl, the Rottweiler every mother wishes she had. Carl looks after baby Madeline, getting her in and pulling her out of mischief in every adventure. I can only imagine what sort of danger A would get into with Miles as her nanny, but Carl is a dream babysitter. He keeps Madeline from danger while giving her the time of her life.

Alexandra Day tells her stories primarily through her gorgeous illustrations with very little narration. This allows even very young children to "read" and enjoy these books. They're a favorite of my little dog lovers!