Birthday by Pancake.

I turned another year older yesterday and it got me thinking about my ideal birthday celebration. Although I spend most of my time brainstorming and dreaming up ways to celebrate special occasions for others, I rarely enjoy actually doing so for myself. Adam never fails to ask me year after year what I want to do for my birthday though and I usually answer with one large empty sigh and a big melodramatic : “N-O-T-H-I-N-GGGG”. Now don’t get me wrong. I love spending time with my nearest and dearest, and eating just-out-of-the-oven cake is just about my most favorite thing to do, but celebrating turning another year older just gets to be more and more of a drag as the numerals increase each year, ya know?

So in an effort to rid myself of my Eeyore-like birthday tendencies, I decided to get excited about turning another year older for once! With the help of Bing Rewards and my sweet friend Rina, I set out to plan my most ideal spring birthday celebration complete with a cake with a twist. I wanted to mix it up this year and create an untraditional birthday cake : cue in the pancake! Ever since I got back from Europe last week I’ve had a mad craving for pancakes. Maybe it’s because I just ate enough french croissants and crepes to float home across the Atlantic, but a good old fluffy home-style pancake seemed like just the way to curb my birthday sweet tooth!

But first I had to find a way to create those perfect and fluffy cakes. Oh and of course get those much-needed party supplies as well : cake stand, candles, inspiration for decor, flowers, ya know, the essentials! Luckily using Bing as my research tool, I set out to find a recipe for the fluffiest pancake. One of my favorite features of Bing is their image search which can easily be accessed right from my iPhone. Not only can you set out to search anything and everything, but you can also seek out images by color, category or even those which are copyright protected! Amazing right?

For this particular celebration, I simply wanted a pancake that not only tasted good, but looked good too – therefore the images available via Bing were key! In the midst of searching for that perfect cake, I also used Bing to search for information related to farmers market hours (on Easter Sunday I picked up all my pretty spring assortment of flowers from the Ballard Farmers Market) and the ingredients I would need for my frosting glaze.

Did you know that each time you search via Bing you can rack up points through Bing Rewards and in turn use them to acquire gift cards?! Yes! – you heard that correctly – just by searching for party decor inspiration & the perfect pancake recipe online, I accumulated points which in turn allow me to acquire gift cards for amazing party decor and supplies via websites like Amazon! How awesome is that, right?! Hello pretty white cake stand! Uh, let’s just say Bing Rewards is now this prop stylists new best friend.

I found an entertaining video here and set out to make my cake. With the help of my adorable husband who stayed home to help me master the art of the pancake, we found that like the video mentioned, folding in the whipped egg white vs. just adding the whole egg in at once did make for a fluffier (is that even a word?) cake. We also added chocolate chips and coconut flakes to the mix to add a special sweetness to my pancakes, which I sourced from one of my favorite local shops Delaurenti’s in Pike Place Market. I finished my pancake cake off with a simple powdered sugar milk glaze on top, and some fresh berries to make my cake layers.

And what party is a party without some pretty decor? Since spring is in full swing in Seattle I loved the idea of incorporating a pretty floral palette, especially since Easter is still on the brain and today is Earth Day! I created a simple garland using the buds of my favorite spring flowers (including some heaven smelling lilac from our front yard, twine, tiny clothespins and washi tape) and also assembled a charming arrangement to be buddies with my cake. Mango orange juice with a touch of champagne in pretty french glasses and voila! My perfect spring celebration, just in time for my birthday. Simple, fresh and sweet.

Photography by Rina Jordan. Styling, concept and floral design by Jenn Elliott Blake.

This post was created in partnership with Bing. All thoughts and opinions are my own.