Girlfriend's Birthday Cake [baking]

I made my first cake completely from scratch tonight for my girlfriend's birthday, and it wasn't half bad! In fact, she liked it!

It was a chocolate cake with homemade vanilla cool whip frosting with a layer of fresh strawberries between the chocolate cake and strawberries on top; this was her "dream" cake, so I did my best with it.

I used the "Hershey's 'Perfectly Chocolate' Chocolate Cake" recipe for the cake, and then this recipe for the cool whip frosting.

SF Eats: Bacon Moon Pie! [foodie]

More about the Bacon Moon Pie on Thrillist:

Ingredients:

I've used my favorite bacon from Bledsoe Pork in Woodland, CA (Davis Farmer's Market) to make traditional Scottish shortbread with stone ground rice flour, bacon fat, and bacon cracklin.

Between these two pieces of shortbread you'll find a marshmallow made with Vermont maple syrup and Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage Bourbon, surrounding a bacon fat and bacon cracklin caramel.

The whole thing is coated with a thick layer of my favorite blended chocolate, Michel Cluizel's 72% dark.

Per normal, the recipe is included.

Each order contains four pies at ~5.25oz each.

The 9" pie is ~5lbs (about 20 servings) and includes bacon ganache made with Michel Cluizel 72% dark chocolate and Bledsoe bacon.

In case you care about such things, these snacks/desserts are soy free.

Michel Cluizel 72% Dark Chocolate (cocoa butter, cocoa, cane sugar, bourbon vanilla), Bledsoe Pork Bacon, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Unbleached Wheat Flour, Celles Sur Belle Butter, Glucose (Corn Syrup), Organic California 100% Jersey Milk, Filtered Water, Organic California Stone Ground Rice, Organic Vermont Maple Syrup (Grade B Dark), Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage Bourbon, Gelatin, Sea Salt