Smores birthday cake

Did you know Monday was Hans' birthday? Hope you called him. I think we can officially call him "late 20s" now, though he's still arguing "mid to late."

After spending far too many hours last year making his iPhone birthday cake, I decided I just wanted something tasty this year and didn't care too much how it looked.

Mission accomplished. Taste? Amazing. Incredible. Mouthwatering. Look? Eh. Who cares. It tastes good. Mostly the frosting. I'm not usually all about frosting - gimme the cake. But I wanted to stick my face in this marshmallow frosting.

For the crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 stick butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
Dash of salt

Combine all the ingredients until the crumbs aren't dry anymore. Press the mixture into two buttered cake pans (8" or 9")

For the cake:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk (I used skim and that worked)
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup melted butter
4 tablespoons sour cream

Beat together eggs and sugar. Add in vanilla, milk, cream and butter. Beat well. Add in the sour cream. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add all at once to the wet ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Split evenly between the two cake pans (on top of the graham mixture).

Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes.

Fill with marshmallow frosting and more graham cracker crumbs.

(Both of the above loosely adapted from How Sweet it Is)

For the glorious frosting:
8 egg whites
2 cups sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Get a mixing bowl. Set it on top of a small pot with water in it, and put both on the stove. With the water in the pot simmering, stir the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar together. Heat until the combination is warm and the sugar dissolved. Transfer the mixing bowl to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium for 5-7 minutes or until stiff peaks start to form. Stir in the vanilla. Use immediately.