Happy 1st Birthday Annie!

It's tough to believe that it's been a year since this beautiful face came into this world - but she did & Annie is 1! She's been bringing smiles to faces & stealing hearts since day 1. She's even walking already, clearly a genius.

I'm so lucky to be her auntie. These are some snaps from her first birthday party this weekend that was filled with laughs, food, everything Minnie Mouse (including a custom cake - scroll down to check out that confection) & family (including tons of COUSINS)!

Happy Birthday Annie! I love you!

Rhubarb-Almond Cake

If you’re looking for a summer dessert this is it. I love rhubarb & have traditionally enjoyed it most in a strawberry rhubarb pie (mmmm). My aunt is allergic to strawberries so when deciding on what to bring for (Easter) dessert at my Grandma’s house I opted for this Rhubarb-Almond Cake. It’s light but moist. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. The rhubarb offers the right amount of tartness to make you want seconds.

3rd Blog Birthday + Raspberry-Ricotta Cake

It’s March 12th again, how can that be? That means HeatherOMade is three!!! Sometimes I can’t imagine my life without this blog & you guys my loyal readers who check in to see what I’m making or posting on the daily (or maybe not so daily). I’m still trying to find the balance between blogging, my full time job, being a wife, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a grand daughter & a friend but thanks for letting me be me & allowing me to focus on whatever it is I choose to be each day.

To celebrate I made this cake I found in the pages of this month’s Bon Appetit. It’s super moist (even if you don’t like that word it is!) & flavorful. The raspberries are the perfect balance of sweet & tart. I even ate a piece for breakfast because why not it’s my blog birthday :) (Yes, sometimes I eat cake for breakfast even though my Instagram feed would make you believe I only eat smoothie bowls)

I think this would be a great cake to make for Easter or just this spring in general, or just breakfast.
Super huge thanks again for reading these past three years! Cheers to you all (especially my biggest fan,  best friend, main taste-tester, oh & best husband, Chris)! xx Heather

Ladybug 1st Birthday Party Inspiration

This past weekend we celebrated my little niece, Claire's 1st birthday.  So far it seems Claire's lot in life is to be surrounded by lots of love & amazingly themed parties (remember Marie's baby shower before Claire was born? - refresh your memory here).  Claire's party was chockfull of every little lady bug detail you can imagine thanks to the imagination of her mom (Marie!) & labors of love by both of her grandmothers.  Take a peek there's a table cloth with hand cut felt lady bug spots (over 300 of them!), a ladybug cake, ladybug cupcakes & even ladybug deviled eggs plus all the other accessories that coordinated perfectly like cutlery & party hats.

If you're planning a lady bug first birthday party this is a great place to be inspired!

PS: Happy birthday to my fabulous sister-in-law, Truly! I love you girl :)
PPS: Thanks for sharing Claire's special day with my blogosphere, Marie & Greg :)

Hot Molten Chocolate Cake

Everyone always has room for dessert when it's hot molten chocolate cake, with ice cream of course.  This dessert is not as hard as it looks to make but there is some love involved. It's not what I would call a call-me-maybe-dessert, this isn't for a first date.  This is for the date when you celebrate you first wedding anniversary. This is a you-count-big-time-in-my-book-dessert.  For those of you that I've made this for - you know who you are- & yes I'll make it for you again.

This recipe is built out of some I found online & through some basic trial & error.  But lucky you, you don't have to do the leg work because you get my full recipe after the jump, so read on for some more photos & the recipe!