Time flies when you’re in love – and there’s no greater example than me and my baby, Martini. He’s the light of our lives and clearly deserves a full birthday month (just like his mom), so we threw a party!

Here’s the 411 on the best *and* easiest puppy birthday cake and a pooch filled photo recap:

If you don’t know me by now, know this : I do not prepare for ANYTHING up until the second I need to – but once I set my mind to it, it will be perfect. #VirgoThings 

So.. that’s why I didn’t even think to look up a cake recipe until the night before! For Martini’s first birthday we used box mix which was pretty much terrible, and last year I made him some kind of quarantine special since we weren’t really leaving the house much. So this year, it was time to start stepping it up – but also, I was really aiming for something that took less than an hour. Technically I have the time, but I’d rather spend it in a bubble bath or binging the new season of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. So off to Pinterest I went! 

Luckily, within a few clicks I landed on this post by Skip To My Lou. Not only did we pretty much have everything in the house already, but it actually looked like cake and not a weird science experiment. AMEN. The only adjustment we made was adding some frozen raspberries (Martini’s fave) and subbed canned 100% pumpkin for the carrot baby food, but everything else was just as follows. It probably took me 5 minutes to throw this together and we watched an episode of the Sopranos while it baked perfectly. Gorge.

If you’re not into clicking around, here’s the gist of the recipe:
As for the frosting – even though she did a beautiful job with the peanut butter, I knew it had to be pink. So I thought about it and decided that cream cheese (another one of Martini’s true loves) whipped with a splash of milk would work as a frosting, and I could tint it with the tiniest bit of pink sanding sugar for color. (Before you call PETA, it was less than a dash! Pigment goes a long way, y’all!) So that’s what I did! 

Once it was cooled, I dragged out some of our Valentine’s Day pedestals (perfectly sized for these little heart springform pans I have) and iced accordingly. For detail work I added a little more pink and piped the edges, etc. Then I remembered a TikTok where I saw someone delicately edge a cake with strawberries (100% Martini approved), so went ahead and did that. My baby deserves it all! 

Lastly, yes – we went the extra mile with candles. It cost all of $1.25 and made my heart burst. If you can’t find joy in the little things, you’re in the wrong place babe. ✨

After we added a few little Princess garnishes and a puppy proof tablescape, we were all set! A party for the ages. 💖

Finally, some perfect puppy spam from the night: 

The main event! I *carefully* held my baby while we sang Happy Birthday to him, quickly blowing out the candles before his little snoot could get covered in flames and frosting. I’d post the video, but nobody’s ears need to hear the “singing” that ensued. 😉

Once Martini got his birthday boy share, we let the rest of the pom pack in on the fun. COMPLETE and total chaos but honestly it was just too cute to break it up. These little gremlins have us hopelessly wrapped around their paws. 💖.. I couldn’t make this post and NOT share this gem of my mom’s baby Zoé, who took the BIGGEST bite once she realized what was going on. She’s a chunky queen with a big appetite, but Tini’s little snoot wasn’t going to let her dominate!  Can you even? I die.😂

To only getting more ridiculous every year! 🎉🍾

XOXO,