Dante’s Bucket List: Dog Birthday Party & Dog Cake

By Melissa Massello, June 24, 2013

This weekend was pretty special. I’m not one to make a big deal out of a dog’s birthday (before this weekend we marked the occasion each year with a marrow bone from the butcher and a trip to the dog park), but since we knew it was going to be Dante’s last one, I indulged every crazy dog person tendency and dog birthday party inspiration I had ever collected.

About 12 weeks ago, we learned that D’s kidneys are failing, and have had to give him daily injections of fluids at home (along with meds and special prescription dog food). Because he gets so dehydrated so quickly now, our vet told us that he most likely won’t make it through the summer, so for him to still be with us on his 14th birthday was pretty amazing. We’ve already been blessed with three more special months together (hopefully longer still), giving us the chance to check off every single dog park on D’s Bucket List and start over at the beginning — even look for new ones to try!

At the top of his Bucket List, just after Wagon Hill, is the Sheepfold at the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Medford. D’s birthday just happened to fall on a Saturday this year so we invited all our dog-loving friends to come and celebrate with us. We grabbed a picnic table and had cake (which I baked especially for the dogs, recipe below, that turned out to be pretty tasty for the people too, once you removed the dog treats), Champagne, and gifts — yes, I made favors for D’s dog friends, above, consisting of paper party hats and a rawhide bone, and our friends surprised us with a super cute card, Happy Birthday dog cookie, and new Red Sox chew toy for D.

Then we all took a long hike through the woods. It was such a special day made even more so by the support of such amazing friends, both human and canine — and I only felt like a crazy person a few times!

Here’s the recipe for the dog birthday cake I created (by combining three or four recipes I found on Pinterest to make them simpler, and more in line with D’s favorite people foods) below:

Dog Birthday Cake (or Pupcakes):

1 bag (2 cups) shredded carrots
2/3 cup mashed bananas
(or 2 containers banana baby food)
2/3 cup applesauce
(or 2 containers apple baby food)
2 cups quinoa flour
(or any other corn & wheat free flour)
2 tsps baking soda
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup honey
2 eggs

Beat the eggs together, then add the oil, vanilla, honey, peanut butter, apples, and bananas. (I used apple and banana baby food to save time and money, since they were on sale at Shaw’s last week!) Mix well, then fold in the shredded carrots. Lastly, mix in the flour and baking soda. Spread into your cake pan (I used a 9″ rectangular foil pan from the Dollar Store, which came with a handy lid) or cupcake pans, and then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Once cooked through in the center, cool your cake or cupcakes for at least one hour before “frosting.”

“Frosting” & decorations:

Blue Dog Bakery peanut butter & molasses Doggie paws (for decoration)
2 cups nonfat Greek yogurt
1 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup mashed bananas (or 1 container banana baby food)

Whip all the ingredients together in a bowl and then spread on top of completely cooled cake. Decorate with Blue Dog Bakery treats (I made a huge D in the center and then rimmed the edges, which used about 2/3 of a box). Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to set.

It didn’t last long with the dogs, to say the least — and a few of us even ate some, too. Delicious! While I love the “pupcakes” from our local dog bakery, they’re $1.75+ each and this entire cake only cost me about $7 for about 16-20 servings. We froze it and will break out a piece whenever dog friends come to visit!

Tired, happy dogs — tired, happy people. Such a great way to spend a summer Saturday.