Pumpkin Dog Cake with Whipped Cream

Nike is turning 2 years old incidentally on the day I take my Internal Medicine medical boards test (hopefully which I won’t have to take for another 10 years assuming I pass), so I’m celebrating early.

She had a pupcake last year, this year I went with a mini cake and a homemade flower collar – Pinterest is amazing.

She’s still one of my favorite subjects to photograph, and is far more famous than I’ll ever be (can’t believe this little fox has 30,0000 followers on instagram – and it’s nice to see people love her as much as we do) 

Although I’ve done photography for many years before, Nike and Instagram has actually made me a better photographer more than anything else. In the last year, I’ve upgraded from my first Nikon camera to a full frame Nikon professional camera and now to a full frame Sony mirrorless professional camera. And I’ve learned so much about Lightroom, Photoshop, and camera gear in the past two years.

I can’t believe how much we lucked out with Nike – she’s the most easygoing, laidback dog I’ve ever met, and she’s very low maintenance like cuddly cat who doesn’t demand much of anything. She’s a very popular guest, especially when we travel.

More fun quirks (an update to last year’s quirks)

• she will sleep curled up like a fox or on her back with her four legs up like a cockroach
• she has learned to “hold” things in her mouth like flowers, but her face makes her look like she’s going to a funeral
• when she gets confused by a trick (esp when learning new tricks), she will cycle through every trick she knows in the hope it’s the right one, so she gets a treat
• she is very irritated by our new Roomba vacuum and is always stalking it while making strange growling wimpering noises
• she’s been recognized in public by people who know her instagram
• she still doesn’t bark, and is a great companion traveling on trains, cars, and plane flights (people never realize there’s even a dog under my seat)

We sadly haven’t had a chance to hike much with her in Philadelphia yet due to the heat and how busy we’ve been, but we can’t wait to explore more as we get settled and the weather cools down.

Dog cake recipe adapted from The Almond Eater.

Pumpkin Dog Cake with Whipped Cream

Ingredients
PUMPKIN DOG CAKE
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup canned plain pumpkin
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

WHIPPED CREAM 
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tablespoon sugar

Directions
PUMPKIN DOG CAKE: Preheat oven to 350°. Grease two 4″ mini cake pans (I used these springform pans).

In a large bowl, combine flour and baking soda; set aside. In another bowl whisk oil, egg, honey, pumpkin, peanut butter, milk and vanilla together in a large bowl.  Fold the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.

Divide batter in half into the two pans. Bake cakes for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool then pop then out of the pans. Wait until cakes are completely cool before icing.

WHIPPED CREAM: In a clean bowl, using an eggbeater on high, beat the whipping cream and sugar together until stiff peaks form, about 5 min. Set aside in the fridge.

ASSEMBLY: slice the tops of both cakes off (the “dome” part) and then lay the cut edges together, placing a bit of whipped cream in between. Top the cake with additional whipped cream. I decorated mine with dog treats and a little sign by taping cut post it notes to a toothpick. Serve and enjoy! This cake is edible for humans too!