turning 27 is pretty sweet

This month I had a birthday. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of a custom piece of art by Jessie Olseon of Cakespy. Knowing how much I love her artwork, Pittsburgh, and baking (cupcakes in particular), Amber, Anthony, and Mark conspired to create a most wonderful birthday present. Jessie Oleson was kind enough to send me a scan of the image so I can share it.


The four of us as cupcakes, sharing dinner together with the city in the background! So much stuff that I love in one painting! What wonderful friends! :-)

birthday nutella cheesecake

I only discovered nutella when I got into baking. And boy am I glad I did. Erin's a fan too, so I made her nutella cheesecake bars from a recipe located here for her birthday. Sooooo good.


Sir Sous Chef likes nutella too. Just sayin'. The crust was different than any others I've made before - it had oats and cocoa and dark brown sugar, in addition to butter.

The next layer is the cheesecake itself.

Some nutella is added to part of the cheesecake batter.


You're left with two layers. In two very bright bowls.

Add in the first layer.

And a second layer.

And....bake!

I forgot to take pictures of the finished product, but rest assured it was delicious. It even introduced one of our co-workers to nutella and she was quite excited. A nutella convert and another yummy dessert. Success!