Birthdays can be confusing. Some people love them and others dread them. It’s all relative depending on one’s circumstances and attitude - who you’re with, where you are, how old you are (and feelings about age), what you’re doing… or not. I’ve been on exciting travel adventures far from home (Sydney, AUS in 2006, for example). I’ve been disappointed and lonely on some birthdays, not doing what I wanted with whom I wanted (those days I’ve tried to forget). And I’ve been surrounded by friends that care about me but am still far from family (Montana 2020 and 2021). The day makes me contemplate what I’ve done in the past year, if I am where I want to be in life, or if I want or need to change anything. All of those are not necessarily things that are fun to think about, but they’re things society and culture put at the forefront, and self-reflection helps with self-improvement. If you want to annoy me on my birthday, ask me where I want to be in 5 years. (Ehh heem, Dad.) Regardless of where I want to be or am not, I try to focus on where I am and where I’ve been. “Cultivate an attitude of gratitude,” as the saying goes. One of the things that make birthdays sweeter regardless of where I am or whom I am with is cake.
I love cake. (There I go, using the word “love” in relation to food again!) What’s more, is that I enjoy making cakes. So when friends offer to bake (or buy) me a birthday cake, I have to explain that they’d be taking something away from me, so … no thanks. I’ve got it. I don’t remember when it started. I know I used box cake mixes as a kid, but before I could bake I’m sure my mom made me a cake or something was purchased from the store. However, if someone surprises me with a cake, I definitely wouldn’t say “no.” (My friend Abi made me a lemon poppyseed birthday cake in 2016, and I had many going-away cakes baked for me from MT friends in 2022.)
However, if I’m traveling for my birthday or am about to travel, I may have to skip baking my birthday cake that year. (In 2017 I spent my birthday in the Boston area. My best friend and I went out to dinner, and the best the restaurant could do was a pre-frosted cupcake pulled from the freezer. That’s what I get for choosing a seafood restaurant vs a restaurant with a pastry chef!) But if I am celebrating my birthday with family or friends, and am not AFK (away from a kitchen), I will gladly make my own birthday cake.
I like baking for three main reasons. First, it's a creative outlet where I can challenge myself and try new things that look and sound delicious. Second, I want to make the thing so I can eat the thing. And third, I want to be able to share whatever I make with people I care about. Baking for myself is nice, but baking for others is so much better.
Once I was in culinary school learning new things, I tried to “up” my cake game.
For my 2018 birthday cake, I decided to combine two of my favorite flavors and play with frosting and piping. For a small celebration with my parents and my best friend’s family, I made a three-layer coconut cake with blackberry filling and buttercream roses. I haven’t perfected perfectly stiff but smooth American buttercream frosting, so my roses tend to be more ruffly versus soft and cohesive with perfect petals. However, it was a fun combination of my favorite colors and delicious flavors. (For those that say, “It’s still great! I could never do that!” Well, this is the skill I chose to attempt to work on and succeed in. Pick whatever you are good at but still criticize yourself, and I could say the same - “You’re awesome at X! I could never do that!” It works both ways. 😄 ) I haven’t done much rose piping since then due to trying other things, but I could always return to it.
In 2020 when COVID was rampant, I had some time to plan and experiment. Barb gifted me a jelly roll pan, so the natural choice was a Charlotte cake. I decided to make a Charlotte Royale since I had leftover pastry cream from another recipe and a bowl that would serve as a perfect-sized mold. This cake is made by making a jelly roll then cutting perfectly spiraled slices, lining a bowl - lined in plastic wrap - with the slices, and filling the “cake bowl” with a cream or mousse stiffened with gelatin.
A traditional Charlotte Royale is strawberry or raspberry flavored (both the jam in the jelly roll and cream filling), but there are lots of flavor possibilities. I chose to use a blackberry jam filling for the jelly roll, and I flavored the vanilla sponge with orange zest. I added more orange zest and juice to the additional pastry cream I made to supplement what I had. Then I made a whipped cream that was stabilized with gelatin and folded them together for a diplomat cream to fill the cake. Through all of that, there were some frustrating moments. I forgot to turn the sponge cake onto a towel dusted with powdered sugar, roll it in the towel, and let it cool. This helps the cake mold to a spiral shape so it won’t crack after being filled with the jam and then rerolled.
Additionally, I was nervous my pastry cream wasn’t thickening as it should when I combined the new with the old. It took me 20-30 minutes of playing with it to remember part of the thickening process happens when cooled…🤦 I truly felt like a crazy baker back in school or on a cooking show when I was in my friends’ kitchen and they were trying to talk me down from my frustration of my perfect creation not going as smoothly as I wanted. Thankfully my baking anxiety only comes out once a year, if that! The end product was delicious and beautiful. I was pleased with it, and so were my Montana friends who enjoyed it!
In 2021 I had to challenge myself further. My MT family had so many friends and neighbors in the area, I knew I wanted to make a showstopper since they were all invited. I kept this cake a secret and didn’t reveal it until it was time to bring it out for my party. While I shared their kitchen for baking, I baked when the house was empty so no one knew the flavors. I also assembled and decorated the cake in my kitchenette space so the outside was a surprise, too. While it was fun to hear everyone ooohhh and ahhhh over the flavors, the look was just as important, and the surprise on everyone’s face and their exclamations when I cut into it were one of my favorite parts of the night.
I had Neapolitan stuck in my head, so I made a six-layer Neapolitan cake. (I originally wanted to make it 9 layers, but that was too tall for the refrigerator - and plates!) With three different cake flavors in one, I knew there would be something everyone would enjoy. The bottom layer was German chocolate cake (one of my favorites) with coconut pecan filling. The middle was a strawberry cake with strawberry cream cheese buttercream, and the top layer was a white vanilla cake with a lemon curd filling. The outside was frosted with Swiss meringue buttercream, and I used a basket weave design (not bad for my one and only attempt!). I decorated it with fresh flowers (some edible - the kids enjoyed those!) from one of the gardens.
With all the egg whites, yolks, and whole eggs, I think I counted 36 eggs in total! (I was grateful some of those came from our neighbors' chickens and egg prices weren’t soaring at the time.) Even with my best friend’s wedding cake and the cakes I’ve made in culinary school, this is the cake I am most proud of to date. I have yet to craft my own recipes, but I was happy with the choices I made for the flavor combinations and design. And I was able to overlook any frosting flaws. There was no beating this the next year!
I spent my birthday in 2022 after moving back to Oklahoma with my three-year-old niece. We made carrot cake cupcakes, and after living away from her for her first three years, this was perfect. Cute three-year-old measuring concentration, licking the beaters, and eating the frosting first.
This year, baking my way through Ken Haedrich’s The Harvest Baker, I knew I wanted to stretch out my birthday week to include more recipes from the cookbook. I made Fresh Mint Oreo Cheesecake to share with friends at the end of June. Then a few days before my birthday, I made Gingered Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Mascarpone Frosting to share with my parents and friends. And lastly, on a birthday weekend trip with friends, I made Peach Pecan Shortcakes. Cheesecake is not a cake I rotate very often since the water bath makes me nervous, and it’s a heavier dessert. I did like the use of fresh mint in this cheesecake, though, which I have in ample supply at the school garden.
Carrot cake is one of my favorites, so if I made nothing else, I was always planning on Ken’s version as my birthday cake this year. I had never tasted or used mascarpone before, and the addition of it in the cream cheese frosting lightened the texture and sweetness. I also loved all the additions with the grated carrot - walnuts (a substitute for the called-for pecans), pineapple, raisins, and crystallized ginger.
Finally, the shortcake was an easy dessert to make for my friends while staying in an Airbnb and using an unfamiliar kitchen. Unfortunately, the peaches at the local grocery store were not ripe enough for me to feel comfortable serving them, so we had strawberry shortcakes that night. The one peach I bought for a picture seemed to ripen overnight, though, and the end product was perfect as a post-trip dessert.
Regardless of how you spend your birthday, if the day is dreaded and just another calendar date, or if you stretch it out to celebrate all month, I hope there is cake, or something equally delicious!
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