Responding to Friday’s emergency cake request from Cake4kids, I whipped up two layers of chocolate cake for a boy named Raymond last night. I had posted a Facebook request for chocolate frosting recipes and got great suggestions from friends Jill, Ricardo and Puja (thanks all!). However, I was busy and stressed this morning and wasn’t sure I could pull off any of their directions in my super-short time frame: 45 minutes to make frosting AND decorate cake.

Since my last frosting attempt – vanilla cream cheese – was so tasty, I decided to Google “chocolate cream cheese frosting” in the hope of finding a fast, easy recipe.

Voila! I found the Cupcake Project (beautiful photography, great ideas and clever writing to boot) and Stefani Pollack.

Guess what her all-time favorite frosting is? Yep. Chocolate cream cheese. It couldn’t be easier and it was SO good! I followed the directions to sift the powdered sugar and (yeah!) no lumps this time. It was also the right shade of light brown to go with my desert/succulent/lizard theme. If you want her recipe, please go to:

http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/04/my-favorite-chocolate-cream-cheese.html

I highly encourage you to check out her ten favorite frosting recipes… I will be working my way through them one way or another!

*Flower arranging always makes me feel like a French girl; I used my Le Jacquard Français dishtowels to wrap his ‘n hers Valentine’s flowers (photos tomorrow), then enjoyed a quiet cappuccino with the newspaper, did some brisk walking at the park with Scout, then put an EmersonMade beige fabric flower on my black cotton cardigan and headed to the Farmer’s Market with Paul, Tate and my chic black Reisenthel tote (gift from Gabriele).

UPDATE: Here is the feedback I got from the social worker about the chocolate cake I baked for a 12-year old named Raymond.

Thank you so much for being able to provide a cake for one of my families at such short notice. I had informed the family that it may not happen. I met with them on February 15. Raymond was present and he was soooo excited about having the cake delivered.  According to Mom and Raymond, the decorations were great, the cake was the ” best he ever tasted.” The other children are looking forward to receiving their cakes. Thanks again for making this birthday a very special one for Raymond.

It doesn’t get any better than that, does it?

To make a difference in the life of a child is truly a gift for the giver.

In case you hadn’t heard, there is only ONE WEEK left in cake4kids.org’s donation drawing… anyone who makes an online donation (via PayPal) will be eligible for a Valentine’s cake baked and decorated by one of the amazing cake4kids volunteers. I’m in… how about you?

To donate, please go to http://www.cake4kids.org/Home.html and click the “Donate” button. Please note that you need to donate at least $50 in order to be eligible.

I had tea with Libby (the founder) this morning and came away so impressed with her plans for the future. The money raised in this current effort will go towards applying for 501 3(c) – [non-profit] status so Libby can go after corporate donations (and your future contributions will be fully tax deductible). This is one of the most FEEL GOOD things I’ve ever done and I highly encourage you to get involved.

Thanks for listening to my PSA today… have a great weekend! My darling brother is in town and we are going to spoil him rotten for a few days!

Oh yes, cake fans, this is what you do with the leftover cake scraps… you make a ‘cake scrap’ cake! I tapped into my inner Italian housewife yesterday to come up with a special afternoon snack for the boys (needed to soften the blow that they were not getting the three-tiered pink cake, you see).

It tasted really good thanks to the delicious cream cheese frosting (which works really well with super sweet cake batters because it isn’t sugary sweet, it’s kind of tangy-sweet). I’m not much of a sugar person and I can’t resist this frosting; that should tell you something!

Does anyone have any other cake leftover tricks? I would love to hear from you!

Doesn’t this make YOU want to bake for a child who needs a little extra love? Check out the cake4kids website at http://cake4kids.org/Home.html – be sure to tell Libby I sent you!

Ever wanted to unleash your inner Martha Stewart? (me: YES)

Do you like to bake? (me: Not really)

Do you like helping others? (me: YES!)

If you’ve said “YES” to two out of three questions, have I got a great organization for you…

My friend, Libby, recently started a local chapter of Free Cakes for Kids. Her group is Cakes4Kids and if you’ve ever made a cake for your child’s birthday, you will not want to miss the chance to help out less fortunate children by baking and decorating a birthday cake just for them. People like me, who live to throw parties, will embrace the chance to make a difference in young people’s lives by showing them their community CARES.

Here is the story from Toni Poulos of Free Cakes for Kids about the founding moment of her organization:

“My foster daughter had been with us for about three weeks when her 8th birthday came round. We only planned a small family party, as she was still settling in with her new family. I baked her cake, and made the icing. I tinted it a pretty pink with white trim and little white rosebuds.  I was so excited to bring it out to her. I couldn’t wait to see her little face light up with happiness. That didn’t happen.  Instead it was deep sobbing, the kind that comes from pain straight from the heart and soul. My husband and I first thought we had stepped upon a very painful memory.  When we helped her calm herself, she was able to tell us…this was her very first cake, even more heartbreaking- she did not feel she deserved something so pretty.

FREE CAKES FOR KIDS was born in that moment.”

I can’t read that quote without tearing up and I’ve done so several times already. It has the same impact every time.

So, I’m signing Paul and me up today to help out Libby’s local group and I hope you’ll consider joining us. I’m not a baker, I think I’ve mentioned that. But I can finesse some decorating, I’m sure. And Paul is a terrific baker (he makes all the boys’ birthday cakes).

This is something so small, so easy – we can all pitch in to make positive memories for kids whose childhoods are very dark. If you want to find out more, please visit http://cake4kids.org/Home.html and/or find them on Facebook. Hope to see you there!

[Photo courtesy of David Hughes/Veer]