The Birthday Trade-off

                    In late June, I started my first ever summer class. There are so many courses that I wanted/ needed to fit into my schedule for the fall semester that I felt the summer was a good time to get a required course out of the way. So, I decided to sign up for CAS 100 (Effective Speech) through my local branch campus.  Luckily, the class only meets twice a week, Mondays and Wednesdays from six to nine, and it only lasts for roughly eight weeks. Also on the positive side, my professor is very relaxed and capable of putting the class at ease (which is very important when you have to prepare and give five speeches in front of that very class). So overall, even though I’d rather be out in the summer sun or spending time with my friends, my first summer class has not been an unbearably painful experience.

                There was one major downside to this particular summer class. It’s not the exams, or the speeches, or the three hours of sitting in a cold room. It’s that one of those Wednesday classes happened to fall on July 25^th. What’s so special about July 25^th? Well, it just happens to be my birthday. Through my 13 years of public school, having a birthday right in the middle of summer meant I never had to endure class, or worse, an exam on my birthday. I never had to wake up early or study or impatiently watch the minutes tick by on the clock while a teacher lectures on my birthday. It made for 18 years of blissful, stress-free birthdays. But, do to my first ever summer course and an unfortunate coincidence of dates, I had to endure not only a class on my birthday, but also, one of the two exams that the class requires. Instead of the typical birthday dinner that is our family tradition, I spent my evening studying for and taking an exam on effective speech tactic. Truly scintillating!

                Ok, I’m being a little dramatic. It really wasn’t that bad.  The exam was really easy, even comical. (My professor has a very pronounced sense of humor) The family dinner was rescheduled and was just as delicious a week after my birthday. I still didn’t have to wake up early and one 3 hour class is much better than an entire day of school. The occurrence of class on my birthday actually provided me with an opportunity that I had always wanted to have as a kid.

                In elementary school, the “cool” thing to do was to bring in your favorite baked treat to share with the class on your birthday. I saw and ate everything from homemade gooey chocolate chip cookies to the store-bought, brightly colored, whipped cream frosted cupcakes, depending on the tastes of the child whose birthday was being celebrated.  The treats were handed out by the birthday boy or girl on neatly folded napkins while the class sang “Happy Birthday” to him/her. I always enjoyed the treats and the singing, but there was a part of me that was a little jealous that I wouldn’t be able to share my favorite treat with the class.

                So, in true kindergartener-at-heart fashion, I decided to bake my favorite birthday treat for my class full of adult students.  I chose the chocolate cake that my mom always baked for me for my birthday, and formed it into individual, easy-to-handle cupcakes. I loaded the cupcakes with delicious peanut butter buttercream frosting, once again reuniting my two favorite flavors. I even brought my own colorful napkins for serving. The best part, though, was when my class decided to sing happy birthday to me! Even though I was celebrating my 19^th birthday, I felt like a little kid again, savoring the moment in the birthday spotlight.

                So, all in all, having class on my birthday was a nice trade-off for the opportunity to serve my cupcakes while being sung to.

Chocolate Cupcakes





 

• 3/4 Cup Salad Oil
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 3/4 Cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 Cups Flour
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 2 tsp. Baking soda
• 2 tsp. Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1 Cup Milk
• 1 Cup Hot Coffee

1. Preheat oven to 350 degress F.
2.  In a mixer bowl, combine salad oil and sugar. Blend well. Add in eggs one at a time. Slowly add hot coffee and milk, making sure not to cook the eggs. Add vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. In small batches, combine the dry and wet ingredients.
5. Scoop batter evenly into a cupcake pan. (The cupcakes will rise so do not overfill).
6. Bake for 25 minutes. Check centers with a toothpick for doneness.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

• 3/4 Cup Butter
• 1/2 Cup Creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3-4 Cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tbs. milk

1. Combine butter, peanut butter and vanilla.

2. slowly add in powdered sugar, being aware of the texture.

3. Add in milk (amount depends on desired texture).

 

COOL THE CUPCAKES, FROST AND SAVOR!