The original title of the frosting is “The Best Frosting I’ve Ever Had.” I would definitely be remiss if I didn’t spend some time talking about this frosting. Perfect for Valentine’s Day, if you ask me… It has just a slight cherry flavor and a beautiful pink color. Oh, and PS – chopped maraschino cherries and cherry syrup in the batter take it to another level. Lots of bakers use a form of this recipe for wedding cakes because it’s delicious and sturdy enough to stack and layer – and now that I’ve made it a few times I’m a total believer. This cake is awesome too, because it starts with a boxed cake mix which cuts out a lot of the work! It’s so tender, has a heavy crumb and the almond flavor is to die for. The white-almond-sour-cream (WASC) cake seemed like the perfect base for a cherry cake because all of my favorite cherry pie recipes use almond flavoring in the filling.

I’ve been rolling this cake around in my head for a few months now. So, as usual, kitchen therapy to the rescue! I definitely needed something to cheer me up. Doesn’t this kid know she’s my baby? Why does she want to be a big kid so badly? I’m a mess. Last week everything was “So, so awesome,” and all she wants to do lately is play dress-up out of her sister’s closet. “Seriously, Mom?” is her catch phrase of the week. It doesn’t help that she’s been incessantly parroting her seven-year-old sister. Not that I’m not excited about watching her grow up, and not that I don’t cherish each new stage of her life, but I gotta say, I was really hanging on to the baby-stuff this time. This spring we’re planning a big garage sale to clean out the basement, and after that there will be no signs of baby left in the house. She’s officially not a baby anymore, and it sucks. Diapers are long gone, no more rails on her big-girl bed, no bibs, high-chairs or footed pajamas. I’m pretty sure that was the last of the baby stuff. My nearly-four-year-old has stopped using them, so into the trash they went.

Donna cherry the chop