You Say it's Your Birthday

My birthday was earlier this week, so it's a lot to celebrate. Tomorrow my family and friends are going to serve lunch at the Banquet, the local soup kitchen, to celebrate all of our blessings. That doesn't mean we didn't celebrate earlier too! I decided to make a special cake and cupcakes to share with my coworkers and friends. I decided to make cherry poke cake.

I found this great recipe at Baking Bites (http://bakingbites.com/2005/10/happy-birthday-to-me/)which was the base.

Yellow Sheet Cake

2 ½ cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×13 inch sheet pan with parchment paper, or lightly grease it with shortening or oil (butter will produce a harder “crust”).
Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add sugar and, using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed to blend. Cut butter into 4 or 5 chunks and drop into the bowl with the flour. Blend on low speed until mixture looks sandy and no large chunks of butter remain, 1-2 minutes.
In a large measuring cup, combine eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat lightly with a fork until combined. With the mixer on low, pour 1 cup of the egg mixture into the bowl. Turn speed up to medium and beat for 1 ½ minutes. Reduce speed back to low and pour in the rest of the egg mixture. Continue to beat at low speed for an additional 30 seconds, until liquid is fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for a few more seconds, if necessary.
Pour into prepared 9×13 pan and spread batter evenly with a spatula. Tap gently a few times to eliminate any bubbles.
Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool for 30 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a rack to cool completely. You can leave it in the pan if you’re serving it casually.
Serves 16 (or 12 birthday-sized pieces)

After the cake has cooled, poke holes into it. Mix 1 cup boiling water with 1 pkg jello and pour over cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Top with vanilla pudding frosting

1 pkg vanilla pudding
1 tub cool whip
1 c milk

Mix the pudding with milk, fold in cool whip. Frost the cake and top with sprinkle