Lowcountry Dogs Abroad: Pupcakes from Germany!

Hello again from Germany!  Lots has happened since our last post- heck, we've now been to the Czech Republic and Austria, just to name a few!- but most importantly, we celebrated a birthday!  That's right, our Dulcie turned ONE!  Not many pups can say that they got to ring in another trip around the sun European-style!

Well, we happened to be in Berlin that day, so we wanted Dulcie, which happens to mean 'sweet, beautiful thing' in Italian, to have a true capital city experience...So naturally, we searched for a dog bakery!  They had every canine delicacy you can imagine- crunchy treats, chewy treats, 'iced' treats, 'tortes' and the biggest of 'pupcakes!'  We knew we wanted something 'authentic' for our girl, something made with traditional local ingredients.  We ended up choosing a small (about the size of a ring box) cherry 'torte' made with whole wheat flour and German cream cheese.  Needless to say, Dulcie (and her brother Max!) LOVED every last crumb!

We got back to Stuttgart the next day and I just didn't feel right about not baking the birthday girl her very own pupcake, just as I've done for every other pup birthday we've ever celebrated.  So, I sat down with my electronic recipe file- yes, us 'dog folks' are such nerds!- to choose a delicacy.  The tricky part?  Finding one with ingredients we already had- grocery stores in Germany are closed on Sundays!

Here are the two recipes I narrowed it down to.  Having baked both before, I knew I couldn't go wrong- they love them both!

Ginger Banana Party Cake

• 2/3 cup mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 cups Unbleached Flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tsp ginger
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Beat together mashed banana and butter until creamy. Add eggs and water. Beat well. Stir in dry ingredients. Beat until smooth, Add nuts. Spoon batter evenly into oiled and floured bunt pan. Bake at 350° for about 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes, remove from pan, replace on rack and cool.

Jerky Birthday Cake

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup soft butter
• 1/2 cup corn oil
• 2 jars strained beef baby food
• 4 eggs
• 2-3 strips of beef jerky or cooked turkey bacon

 Preheat oven to 325°. Grease and flour an 8x5x3 inch loaf pan. Cream butter until smooth. Add corn oil, baby food, and eggs. Mix until smooth. 

Mix dry ingredients into beef mixture until batter is smooth. Crumble beef jerky and fold into batter. Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack 15 minutes. Frost with plain yogurt, cream cheese or cottage cheese. Crumble another strip of beef jerky/cooked turkey bacon and sprinkle on top of icing. Store in refrigerator.

Dulcie and Max LOVED their Jerky Cake.  Of course, they didn't eat the whole thing- although I'm pretty sure they would have if we'd let them!  That's the great thing about most pupcake recipes, they can keep for up to a week in the fridge!  I prefer to go ahead and cut the cake into bitesize pieces and toss them in a Ziploc baggie...insta-treats for the next week!  Bon apetit!

Want to hear more about our European adventures? Check out 'Thomas, Party of 4,' our travel blog: http://ThomasPartyof4.wordpress.com We love meeting new people and look forward to hearing from you!

Erin Thomas is the owner of Summerville's Lowcountry Pet Sitters, the area's premier in-your-home pet care service. For more information, please visit www.LCPetSitters.com or call 843-327-7487.