July is a special month in my household since it is Schenna’s birthday month! Well, actually it is her adoption month, but since I don’t know when her actual birthday is I celebrate her adoption day instead. Eight years ago, on July 21, this kind, sweet, loving pup picked me to be her person. Schenna had a rough start to life, and I promise I will devote a whole post to her rescue and adoption, but now is a time for celebration!
I wanted to make this year’s celebration just a bit more special than normal, with a homemade dog birthday cake. After all this wonderful pup has been through in the last few weeks with the amputation of her front left paw, she deserved a tasty treat all to herself.
One thing about Schenna, she is a very picky eater. She prefers green beans over her premium dog kibble, so I had to make a dog cake recipe that would appeal to her “gourmet” palate. This recipe is filled with tasty, healthy, dog-friendly ingredients like peanut butter and pumpkin. Plus, it’s super easy to make and sure to be a hit with your furry friends.
Makes 2 Small Round Cakes
Ingredients for Cake:
1 Cup Flour
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/8 Cup Vegetable Oil
½ Cup Applesauce
½ Cup Pumpkin Puree
¼ Cup Peanut Butter
1 Egg
Directions for Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and baking soda.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, stir together vegetable oil, applesauce, pumpkin puree, and peanut butter.
4. Once mixed, add egg. Continue stirring together until wet ingredients are combined.
5. Transfer wet ingredients mixture to dry ingredients and stir until combined.
6. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan and pour mixture into it.
7. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly.
8. Allow cake to cool in baking pan for ten minutes before removing cake from pan and transferring it to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Ingredients for Frosting:
½ Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
¼ Cup Peanut Butter
Milk-Bone Mini’s Biscuits
Directions for Frosting:
1. Do not make frosting until you are ready to serve the cake, it will spread much more easily.
2. Mix Greek yogurt and peanut butter until well combined.
3. When the cake has cooled, use 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut out four round cakes. (I used the 3-inch round cookie cutter from this set.)
4. Now, build the mini cakes, add a small dollop of frosting to the cake stand to secure the cake to the plate. Add a thin layer of frosting to the top of cake and add second cake layer.
5. Repeat this step on the second cake. You should have two mini cakes containing two layers.
6. Spread the remainder of the frosting over the two cakes.
7. Decorate cakes with Milk-Bone mini’s biscuits to garnish.
While your pup will probably only need one cake to celebrate, you can serve the second cake as a treat shared between your other pups so they don’t feel left out. Lastly, make sure you have water accessible for your pup while they are enjoying their Pup Cake. They will get thirsty.
And, just because Schenna is just so cute here are some pictures from her party. Happy celebrating!
