Hello everyone! I intended to make sure you got my last recipe/post quickly. We got a new puppy at the beginning of June, and it has been chaos since then. I knew puppies were hard work, but it’s a new level of crazy.
We had to deal with some unexpected renovations due to an unplanned water leak in our neighbor’s apartment, which flooded our basement early in June.
It was not flooded; a slow leak from a cracked pipe caused water to seep from the floorboards. The floor and one wall had to be replaced, which was finally done last week. We were forced to live in a construction area for two months.
It might not seem that important, but we spend most of our time in the basement. The basement is a walkout with a great view and large windows. It’s also where we keep our TV and is the most comfortable room in the home. We would have never left this room if we had a fireplace! The main puppy area is also in this room, so the renovation was a real disruption.
We decided to move our furniture ourselves to save some time and money. We had some large furniture pieces that we needed to move down here (giant sectional with chaise, bookcases, tv etc). It was a lot to do! Zelda spent the weekend in her pen, then was sent upstairs to work.
I’m complaining. This is something I do. It could have been worse. We had no damage to our belongings, the insurance covered it all, and now we have a new, lovely floor (the old one wasn’t perfect).
Zelda is a real handful, omg. Potty training has been a nightmare. This is probably due to the chaos caused by the unplanned renovations (literally, the worst time to have this happen). She has been moved from downstairs to up and back again. Things will calm down in this regard now that the renovations are done (YAY!) After that, I hope to see more consistency in her behavior.
Biting was the worst part. I know that puppies can bite. She BITES. She can draw blood with those razor-sharp puppy teeth (even if it’s not your intention). It’s her way to play/teeth, but it’s brutal. These puppy teeth have left my arms and hands swollen and shredded. It is SO painful. We have yet to try anything. We’ve attempted to redirect them to toys, disengaging, and yelling (which makes her hyper). This weekend, there was a moment when I thought this was hell. Wtf did we do??
There are also times when she is so adorable that I cannot imagine being frustrated or angry with her. Eva told me yesterday that puppies are cute for survival reasons – you wouldn’t kill them otherwise.
This White Chocolate Raspberry Cake is a must-try.
White chocolate is not my favorite. After all, it’s not at all. It is only made of cocoa butter and sugar and contains no cocoa. Who am I to refuse a request for a White Chocolate Raspberry Cake in my Facebook Group? This cake is a great way to use up those summer berries.
This cake has become one of my favorites. It’s still got the white chocolate flavor, but not as overpowering as straight white chocolate. The sweet/tart raspberries make a great complement.
How to make White Chocolate Raspberry Cake
This white chocolate cake is a modified version of my White Chocolate Candy Canes Cake. This recipe has too much sugar because it also contains sugar in the white chocolate. The recipe is as it is because I did not find it too sweet and loved the texture. The extra sugar will result in a darker, golden crust cake. You can also reduce the amount of sugar to 1 1/2 cups if you prefer.
The chocolate is what makes this mud cake. Mud cake is dense, moist, and almost fudgy. If you want a light, fluffy cake, this is not the cake for you.
You can use any jam you want, or even homemade. I added raspberry jam to the layers and fresh raspberries as an extra touch. I used seeded store-bought jam, but you can choose any type.
This White Chocolate Raspberry cake is decorated in a straightforward way. I left the sides semi-naked and created a design similar to my Lemon Elderflower cake. I added some fresh raspberries to the top and some thyme for some green.
