Molly's Birthday Donut Tower

You know Molly's birthday had to be different. We couldn't just have a plain ol' cake.

This is our same cake recipe. I thought about changing it up, but Molly absolutely LOVES this recipe. I can't keep any leftovers in my house because she will destroy anything that stands between her and the cake. 

I did change up the frosting. When I make cake I typically make a cream cheese based frosting. But as weird as it sounds, Molly does not like cream cheese. She only likes peanut butter and yogurt, so that is exactly what I used for the frosting. 

I ordered the balloons from Etsy, see link here. And then I grabbed the numbers from Hobby Lobby as well as the table cloth. Hobby Lobby had a lot of donut birthday decorations! OH! And I also found the CUTEST birthday crown at Hobby Lobby too! It did not come with elastic, so I just bought some in the fabric section and stabled it to the crown to stay on her head!

I bought the donut pan from Target to bake the donuts in. Click here to shop it!

Click For Printable Recipe

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Grease your donut pan.

Add the following ingredients to a mixing bowl:

1 egg

1/4 Cup of Peanut Butter (be sure this DOES NOT include any xylitol, it is poisonous to dogs)

1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

1 tsp of Vanilla

1/4 Cup of Honey

2 tsp of Cinnamon

1 Cup of Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp of Baking Soda

 

Mix all of the ingredients together with a mixer. Add up to 1/2 cup of water until the batter reaches a cake like consistency to pour into your cake pan. 

Spoon in the batter in each donut filling. Fill 2/3 of the way full. Take a spoon and stir the batter in the donut filling to help blend together. This will help it bake better.

Cook for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick is clean after inserting into the donuts. Then turn the pan upside down on a cooling rack to cool. Allow the donuts to come out of the pan and cool.

To create frosting:

Mix 1/2 cup of plain yogurt and 1/2 cup of peanut butter to a bowl and mix together until blended. Dip the donuts individually in the frosting or spread the frosting on top of each donut.

To make it "chocolate" I simply add carob powder to the mixture. 

Sprinkles can be applied if you wish. I love the look of them, so I use them. 

Arrange the donuts on a plate or cake stand to display. I started with 4 on the bottom layer, then the second layer had 3, then 2 then 1. 

The Best Bedding For Dog Hair

Bedding is important for many reasons. It obviously needs to be comfortable, but also if you're like me, the dogs sleep there with you too, so it needs to be able to withstand a lot of time in the washing machine and handle the dog hair well. 

I have had great success with all of these things at Target so I am sharing my items with you that I use and love. I have had all of these things for many years. They have been romped on by many dogs and gone through the washing machine many times!

The first thing you need to decide is color.

I choose grey because it works best with the dog hair of all my dogs. White is obviously out because it shows dirt WAY too easily. I can't do black because Molly, my worst shedder, is a yellow lab. And I am not a color person, I like my neutrals, mostly black, white and grey. So I do almost everything grey in my house that I can. It works well with black hair, white hair and blonde hair. 

Material is the next factor to consider.

Choose material that has a tightly woven structure to it. Anything with loose weaves = places for dog hair to get stuck. I love polyester or any kind of microfiber. Something satin also is a perfect fit. With that being said, when sheets have a thread count, that is what they are talking about. A 1,000 thread count will have a much tighter weave than a 300 thread count. I have found a fabulous pair at Target I am linking below in the picture. I have recommended it to all my friends and family with dogs. They are silky smooth and handle dog hair extremely well.

That's why I like this selection of quilt over the others offered at Target. See below for my link.

For bedspreads, I don't use them. I have loved the quilt selection at Target. They are easier to use, wash and lay flat at your bed. The one I have is no longer offered, but they have a few very similar that I am linking. I've been very impressed with how it has held up to my giant dogs and multiple washings.  

Everything needs to be washable.

Think about this when looking at throw pillows and blankets. As much as I love those huge knotted blankets that are popular. I can't throw it in the wash three times a week if needed and expect it to hold up.

I have two throw blankets I use on my bed. One from West Elm and one from Pottery Barn. Although the Pottery Barn faux fur has clumped together a bit, the West Elm one has done extremely well and can look just like new after I wash it.

Here are the items that I love and use at my house. Good luck and let me know what your favorite bedding items are! I would love to hear!

1. Fieldcrest Sheets  2. Opalhouse Quilt  

3. Sweater Blanket  4. Ombre Faux Fur Throw

5. LOVE Throw Pillow 

Peanut Butter Dog Birthday Cake Recipe

I used to not celebrate my dog's birthdays, and I'm still not good at it, but when I can I try to because it is fun for me. They don't understand, but I know they appreciate the hard work I put in to making their cake or buying them treats.

This is our peanut butter dog cake recipe from our days as a dog bakery. We shipped hundreds of these across the country. You can make it however you wish, but I like to bake it in a bundt pan because it's more fun and just as easy.

It even makes good cupcakes if you want to make a smaller portion to share with multiple dogs. I just cut this cake into pieces and share with my other fur babies. 

Peanut Butter Dog Cake Recipe

Click For Printable Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease your bundt pan (or pan of your choosing)

Add the following ingredients to a mixing bowl:

1 egg

1/4 Cup of Peanut Butter (be sure this DOES NOT include any xylitol, it is poisonous to dogs)

1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

1 tsp of Vanilla

1/4 Cup of Honey

2 tsp of Cinnamon

1 Cup of Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp of Baking Soda

Mix all of the ingredients together with a mixer. Add up to 1/2 cup of water until the batter reaches a cake like consistency to pour into your cake pan. 

If you do use a bundt pan, once the batter is poured in, take a spoon and stir the batter in circles in the bundt pan to make sure it is mixed well. This will help it bake better.

Cook for 20 minutes or until a toothpick is clean after inserting into the cake. Then turn the cake upside down on a cooling rack to cool.