I can still send you messages



when I want to!

Thinking of you, girl.

The day, the day itself for the lady herself!!

I wish I could feed you cake all day



And put on the candle light-show to awe and amaze you



And most of all, let you know how dear you are to me.

Alas, words fail.

Another Cake Reader

Here's to our beloved Birthday Cake! And to her fantastic appreciation of all things silly in life! With Cake, even the humdrum and everyday can be wildly entertaining. Many happy slices in the future. --Your former frisbee partner.

If you still don't know who I am, here's another hint... I once made you and three others the following cakey treat, although it wasn't for your birthday. Happy Birthday, Cake!


Rigo Jancsi Chocolate Slices
----------------------------

INGREDIENTS:
3 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons sugar
1 oz bittersweet chocolate, grated
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

FOR THE FILLING:
apricot jam
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
a few drops vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream, stiffly whipped

FOR THE CHOCOLATE FROSTING:
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2 tbsp. (1/4 stick) unsalted butter

Cream together the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk the egg whites until very stiff. Add the grated chocolate and flour to the yolk mixture, then fold in the egg whites. Line and grease a 1.5 lb (9x5-inch) loaf pan and pour in the chocolate mixture. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 15-20 min. Turn out and cool on a rack. When cold, slice in half lengthwise through the middle.

Spread both halves of cake with jam on the cut sides. For the filling, mix together all the remaining ingredients, and spread evenly over one half on top of the jam. Make the frosting by melting the chocolate with the butter. Allow to cool slightly, then spread over the jam on the other half. Set aside to cool until the chocolate sets. Put the two strips together so that the frosting and filling are together in the middle, with the frosted strip on top, and chill slightly before slicing to serve.

On Cake

Sweet and warm
full of spice
Betty Crocker's
twice as nice.

Oh, cake. Lovely flourless chocolate torte. Nutty, spicy carrot cake with creamcheese icing. You tease me, you taunt me. But I can't have you. Quack's, I mean, doctor's orders. But wait? What's this? This is Jess's 31st Birthday Cake? Witty, comforting, encouraging, really-knows-what's-what Jess's celebratory confection? My health, be damned! I'm stuffing my face with it! Yum, Yum, Yum!

Who ever thought of the phrase "the world is your oyster"? How much better would it be if the world could be our large slice of cake. Then it would truly be a delicious predicament where to start - with the solid, stick-to-your ribs, thoughtfully prepared middle, or the joyful fluffy surface?

This reminds me of a certain friend, soon to be completing her 31st year, who combines (with iron chef-like panache) talent, irrepressibility, style, pretty much my favorite kind of humor, a myriad of little habitual gestures that warm the cockles of my heart, and a huge amount of Caring For Folks, Both Large and Smaller.

May your new year be as filled with marvels as the air with flour, right after putting a hobart mixer right into a dry bowlful.


A new reader, who hadn't been sent the link until verrrry recently!

Oh, how I savor my friendship with Large Slice of Cake, because who else would I have to revel in the marvelous and mysterious siren song of cake itself? Not only does she astound me with her cake wit and wisdom, she pushes me to new depths of appreciation for confectionary delights. She rocks my sugary world. All this cake-talk is making me lust for sweets...good thing I'm going to be intimately involved with the very cake in which she'll be indulging for her big day...

xoxox ~ a fellow cake lover (and one who claims partial credit for this blog name!)

ch. XXXI: The Best Year Ever

She knew it was going to be good the minute she woke up and realized her favorite pair of socks was clean. Definitely a good sign! She stepped into the airy kitchen and made herself tea. An even better surprise: a brand new purple pen lay on the table, eagerly awaiting her arrival. (You know, the kind with the thin nib. Not super thin, but not thick and prone to smudges either. Le Pen. It's very French, and quite dear.)

She put down her mug and picked up the pen. And so she began her year:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAKE!

Why do we love you so? Let's spell it out . . .

C is for creative, clever & charming
A is for adventurous, admirable & artistic
K is for kind, knowing & kinetic (hey, "k" adjectives are hard to find!)
E is for excellent, exuberant & enthusiastic

Happy 31st! May the year to come bring you much joy,
Love,
???

(Who am I? Well, what a tangled WEB we weave, when we practice to deceive...)

Oooh, I have a birthday-related Cake story (and one that highlights Cake's kindness and good-friendness)!

Waaaaay back in high school (clue!), I had the misfortune of getting sick on my birthday one year, which meant that I had to stay home from school. I remember sitting on my living room couch, despondent and coated in feverish sweat, when the phone rang. It was Cake, calling to say that she had made me a special cake for my birthday and wanted to bring it over to my house! I told her that I was feverish and sweaty and generally not good company, but good-hearted Cake would not be deterred from her mission. Sure enough, she brought it over (and kindly made no mention of my ugly pajamas and unkempt appearance). Best cake I ever had!

And did those crumbs on ancient plates
Fall upon Louisville’s floors so clean?
And were the birthday candles
In Louisville’s pleasant bakeries seen?

… Bring me my plastic spatula.
Bring me my egg beater.
Bring me my spoon -- the wooden one!
Bring me my flour sifter.

I will not cease from preparing desserts
Nor shall my cake knife sleep in my hand
’Til we have baked a Large Slice of (birthday) Cake
In Louisville’s warm and pleasant kitchen.