Christian's Bday Surprises

I mentioned that I made cupcakes and frosting from scratch on Sunday for Christian's birthday. I'm really proud of how they came out because this was my first time ever making cake mix from scratch. I've always used the boxed mixes and mostly the cans of frosting too. Here in Chile, it is hard to find boxed mixes from the US and the Chilean ones are not very good. Frosting doesn't exist here unless you find an imported one. I went about looking for recipes online and settled on a white cake recipe and a cream cheese frosting recipe--all ingredients could be found in Chile without difficulty. It was quite a process with the white cake because there are several steps in the recipe. I'd say that in total, cake and frosting, I was baking for at least 3 hours. I had fun so it wasn't lost time. Here are some pictures of the final result and taste test that Christian could not resist doing:

The cake mix made 24 cupcakes perfectly.

The other hard thing about baking in Chile is getting the oven temperature correct. Our oven does not have numbers to say what temperature it is, it just has a knob with low-high flame. Yes, our oven uses fire to heat up--it is a gas stove. Although it is brand new, the whole flame oven for me is so old-school.

Christian unwrapping his first cupcake EVER!


The approval after the taste test!

For Christian's birthday, I had some other surprises in store. Dulcinea was in on the plans too. Here is what she wrote to her Daddy in his birthday card:

These are the flowers that she bought Daddy for his bday.

And now, some pictures of my guaguita ("baby" in Chilean Spanish). She got a new collar which is pink and has diamonds! Love it!

Isn't she such a doll?!?!?!!!! I just love her!