The Particular Happiness of a Birthday Cake

I’m proud to have baked my own birthday cake this year. It feels very grown-up to have done so. I call it the Betty Crockeresque rite of passage to being autonomous. The homemade cake bowled over my family the most. For a hint of variation, I put in chunks of pineapples into the batter alongside the carrots. While I usually enjoy the cake with good old whipped crème, I chose buttersweet frosting instead for a more traditional vibe. The sugar melted deliciously into the warm crevices of the cake. It was rich, tart and slightly nutty from the carrots. Above all, it tasted good. The candles were the only ones missing, really. I didn’t miss those much though. After all, twenty eight candles are a bit too many to blow ;)