I wrote a book about cake, yes I did. Even after nonstop baking for months on end to test every possible result from an endless combination of sponges and frostings, I continued to love cake. I even continued to make recipes for new cakes, which is the sign of my deepest love: my inspiration. It is my birthday soon, so to celebrate I am passing along to you my favorite cakes (of course), as well as a few other tasty ways to share joy through food.
To start, the obvious carrot cake to which I have been obliged for decades now is appropriate, the gold standard for any recipe I come up with within the moist fruit-or-veggie genre. Like this towering apple stack cake, perhaps, or even this blueberry ricotta number I claimed is for breakfast but could suit any time of day dusted with a bit of powdered sugar or a dollop of ethereal whipped cream. This banana cake is a favorite I made only a few weeks ago. Coconut – especially this classic variety, the ultimate of cool – can hang with the fruit and veg crowd, too.
Ever tried a cake made with olive oil? It’s my dad’s favorite, someone who claims to hate cake. (Perhaps the qualities of a tender crumb and complex floral richness, signatures of all olive oil cakes I’ve ever tasted, is what swayed him.) Here’s one of an upside-down variety, juicy blood orange slices shingled over top; swap the fruit with plums or berries through the seasons with ease. In fact, I insisted on an olive-oil layer cake for my birthday a few years ago: a cake raised from my Paleo addendum to my cake cookbook, literal self-serving recipes that reflect my diet changes I found after my cancer diagnosis. (Find the whole addendum here, to print and wedge between the pages of Cake Magic! so that even more bakers can find themselves there.)
In my twenties, I used to get my friends drunk and sleuth around for birthday cake inspiration, their choices burrowed in my brain as fodder for a future surprise. Here, a yellow cake with whipped bittersweet chocolate ganache frosting I made for one of my best friends (still!), or my Tres Leches cupcakes she made for her now husband; a truly bespoke German chocolate cupcake, here, dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with salt for another. For more special cupcakes, these super-simple vegan ones do the trick.
Or for times when cake itself is a enough of a celebration, like this Texas Mama Sheet Cake, a riff on a Texas sheet cake made when I was a new mom living in Dallas, or these Peanut Butter + Milk Chocolate cupcakes I used to celebrate my blog after a year of writing, or the time I remade the flavors of my wedding cake just because I wanted to.
I could clearly write about cake forever, and I just might. There are other recipes I love that transform just a regular day into a celebration, too – because, really, they all should be celebrated – whether it’s breakfast for dinner or taco night, or a favorite homemade cookie next to a mug of tea (try these lacy whole-wheat chocolate chip stunners, though take your pick here). The act of creating something that is intended to make joy for people you love, including if not especially yourself, is where the art of celebration lies.
I wish all of you a wonderful, celebratory month ahead and will see you back here next month, my belly having been filled with cake at least once during our separation. For paid subscribers, I’ve included a no-occasion-needed decadence that could make a celebration of any day for any one, cookie dough truffle bites that are dairy-, egg- and refined sugar-free. The internet loves a cookie dough bite, so I thought I would make one of my own. Enjoy!
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