In my family, the birthdays roll in like the tide, in and out regularly and forever. It is possible that we have a birthday for at least every month, with some months busier than the others. At times it seems daunting and I wonder, what more can we do? But, maybe all you really need to do is make a cake.

The birthday cake originated from the ancient Greek honey cake that was made as an offering to the moon goddess Artemis on the 6th day of every lunar month. These cakes were a levained cake made with flour and nuts and sweetened with honey. It became custom to not only make them for the goddess but also for important celebrations and weddings. It is said that the bakers would make these round goddess cakes and then cover them with candles to look like the moon.

In 18th century Germany this tradition of birthday cakes and candles can be traced back to Kinderfest, which was a birthday celebration for children. The tradition has evolved and can now be seen and experienced all over the world. Cultures and families all around have there own ways of celebrating but you might be hard pressed to find a birthday celebration without a big cake on the table and a group of loved ones hovered around singing and blowing out candles.

I have decided it might be useful to share a few of my family’s go to birthday cakes. They are easy and adaptable to the seasons. They are also, always, a crowd pleaser.

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE CAKE: 1/2 stick of butter, 2 ounces of bakers chocolate, semi sweet, 1 cup sugar, 1 well beaten egg, 1 cup milk, 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1/3 cup hot water

PROCESS:

1. Melt together the 1/2 stick of butter with the 2 ounce of chocolate. Melt in a sauce pan over low heat and stir constantly so it doesn’t burn.

2. Add in the rest of the ingredients in this order, mixing each thing in before adding the next: 1 cup of sugar, 1 beaten egg, 1/2 cup of milk, 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1/3 cup hot water, and the additional 1/2 cup milk.

3. Pour cake batter into buttered and floured round cake tins and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

4. Remove from oven, tip from pans and let cool on a cooling rack before frosting.

INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks butter room temp, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 cup mashed banana (very ripe), 1 1/3 cup flour, 2/3 teaspoon soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 5 tablespoons buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

PROCESS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans.

2. Cream the butter and the sugar together.

3. Add eggs and bananas and mix.

4. sift dry ingredients together and add to the butter mixture alternating your dries with the buttermilk. Starting and ending with the flour.

5. add the vanilla

6. bake for 25-30 minutes, remove from oven, cool on rack before frosting

The pieces of this cake can be mix and matched to make a lot of variations. The cake itself is the coconut cake recipe from the Boston Cream Pie page. The pastry cream comes from that page as well, and also the profiterole page. This cake can be made and frosted with coconut frosting, vanilla frosting, chocolate frosting, or pastry cream and whipped cream. You can also fill it with whatever fruit you like. I personally love the strawberry version with diplomat cream spread between the layers and topped with whipped cream and strawberries. Diplomat cream is a mix of pastry cream and whipped cream which makes the filling lighter than straight pastry cream. It is a fresh and summery take on birthday cake.

Follow the recipe below on the Boston Cream Pie page for the coconut cake recipe and the pastry cream. Once you have the cake pieces made you can assemble with the cream and strawberries and top with a fresh whipped cream.