Meyers D.'s Birthday Cakes

What a great party we had today. Papa D and I had BIG NEWS for Meyers D (HOPE) that was so hard to keep secret. The way she found out the news turned out just perfect. What a special day, with family and friends it was.

Even if you are not interested in her Birthday cake recipes, make sure you scroll down to see all the crazy party pictures. The CameraDawktor has tried not to fail you with party photos.

Also, stay tuned tomorrow.....we are bailing out of school EARLY to have lunch w/ Grandma Grace, watch the King & I with the old folks and have ice cream in the parlor that's at the retirement center.

Meyers D. wanted to serve her friends a Fruit Pizza. We made this for her on her #8 Bday and she just loves it! It's a great recipe for the kids to help out with too!

Grammies' Chocolate Cherry Cake is sinfully easy and delicious recipe with minimal ingredients. It combines two of my favorite things: chocolate & cherries. I just loved this when my Grammies made it for me! It really wasn't all that picture-worthy....but trust me, it is absolutely delicious, and best of all EASY-PEESY to make!

Grammies' Chocolate Cherry Cake/Bars

Ingredients:
1 pkg. Devil's Food Cake Mix (chocolate)
1 (21 oz.) can cherry pie filling
1 tsp. almond extract
2 eggs, beaten

Directions:
Mix cake mix and other 3 ingredients by hand and pour into a greased & floured 13x9 in. baking pan. DO NOT MIX THE CAKE MIX W/ DIRECTIONS ON THE BOX. ADD THE CAKE MIX TO THE ALMOND EXTRACT, CHERRY PIE FILLING AND EGGS AS INSTRUCTED HERE!!

Bake 25-30 min. @ 350 degrees. Remove from oven when done, leave the finished cake in the pan and prepare frosting.
*You may also make this on a cookie sheet for a sheet cake which makes 32 pieces. Just make sure to adjust your baking time accordingly.

Frosting:
1 c. sugar
5 Tbsp. Crisco
1/3 c. milk
1 c. semi-sweet (I use Ghirardelli)

Directions:
In a saucepan, melt Crisco, milk and sugar. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Add chocolate chips. Beat until smooth. Pour over warm cake.

Fruit Pizza Ingredients and Directions can be found as follows:

Our Pizza - cookie crust is made w/Joe's Ricotta-Cheese Cookie Recipe . It turned out much thicker than the cookie crust I usually use (standard sugar cookie dough), but everyone really loved it. I was expecting it to spread out close to the sides and it did not. It retained its shape. So, next time I will definitely use this recipe, just spread it out quite thin and close to the edges on my 13 in. baking stone. Trial and error, BABY!!

Cream Cheese Frosting recipe is from The Pampered Chef . Search for desserts/pizzas/Paradise Dessert Pizza.

Assorted fruit choices made by Meyers D and creatively designed by her too!