epicureantease

It’s no surprise that I am highly fascinated and slightly obsessed with all things cupcake.  What may be slightly shocking is that I  don’t really like cake.  I appreciate a beautifully decorated cake and have always wanted to take cake decorating classes, however I will pass up the opportunity to have a slice of cake, more often than not.  But pie… Pie is a whole other ballgame baby!

As far back as I can remember, every year when my mom would ask what I’d like for my Birthday dessert, I’d usually request pie.  Being I’m a spring baby, Strawberry, Strawberry Cream or Banana Cream top my request list. There were a few Cheesecake requests thrown in over the years as well. Whether pie or cheesecake, my request always comes with the following stipulations:  it must be homemade and the crust *must* be a homemade graham cracker crust. None of that pre-made pie shell crap. Typically my demand is met with, “you’re such a brat!” and the pie of my choice with the delicious, buttery-sweet homemade graham cracker crust I so adore. 🙂

My mom is the absolute best. THE BEST! My sister, brother and my birthdays are all within two weeks of one another. My brothers and mine being 3 days apart. This means come late March/early April my mom becomes a baking queen, catering to each of our unique and individual tastes.  My sisters request usually revolves around chocolate.  She’s requested a checkerboard cake of chocolate chocolate-chip and yellow cake. If you’ve never seen a checkerboard cake, let me just say it’s one of the tallest homemade cakes I’ve ever seen!  The slices are HUGE!  My brother is a fan of a simple yellow cake with homemade Hershey’s frosting.  His stipulation this year is that the cake must be made from a box mix, else he doesn’t want one. LMAO!!!! Last year my mom made a yellow cake from scratch for my brother’s birthday and there wasn’t enough milk in the county to wash it down.  That cake was dryer than the Mojave desert!  My request was a tad more specific this year than past years, “I want a banana cream pie for my birthday with homemade graham cracker crust, no whip cream!” 

Make a wish!!

 My mom hit it out of the park! The pie was deeeee-licious! The filling, freckled with vanilla bean and fresh banana’s, was creamy smooth. The graham cracker crust crumbly sweet. It. Was. Perfection. 🙂 

Mmmmm! Homemade Banana Cream Pie!! The little black specs are vanilla bean! 🙂

I made a wish as I blew out my candles and again as I cut the first slice.  My wish has yet to come true, but I’ve been reminded that some wishes are worth the wait.  So I’ll wait. Patiently….  

A special THANK YOU to my mom and dad for being there for me from day one!  It hasn’t been an easy task, I know, but someone had to do it! 😉

Carnation Cupcake! 🙂