Makin' Cake

Finn's birthday party is tomorrow so M. and I are up making cake.

Mmmmmmm...cake.

Making cake for a one year old birthday party is proving to be a bit of a nerve-wracking experience. You have to think through what food sensitivities are out there, and are there babies who are under a year so they can't have honey, and what about citrus, or chocolate, or those poor little wheat sensitive babies. It can make a person craaaaaaaazy.

We started with the idea of having red velvet. Oh red velvet cake is such a wonderful thing, except for all that food dye. Okay, so we decided that surely Whole Foods, the slick and shiny mecca of all things better for you MUST have some more natural food dye. Except tired mamas didn't have time to make it to Whole Foods.

Then it was lemon. Tart lemon cream cheese frosting, lemon curd filling. Except Finn seems to be having some skin issues after we introduced lemon. Nix the lemon.

Maybe apple spice, moist and zesty, with fresh-ground nutmeg. Uh oh, the recipe has honey. There might be babies who are under a year and shouldn't have honey. They might eat the cupcake and die from botulism. We might be shunned as BABY KILLERS. No apple spice.

White cake with strawberry buttercream? Maybe? Please? Dammit...strawberries.

What have we ended up with? White cupcakes with buttercream meringue frosting. Simple. Nothing offensive. From scratch because in this family you get scratch cake for your birthday. And the batter looks wonderful.

Mmmmmmmmmmm...cake!