Its a cake!

We celebrated Mike's 32nd birthday today. I made him a sticky toffee pudding cake. Making the cake is probably as much for me as it is for him. I love baking cakes, but I can't justify making one unless there is a birthday, because a cake is a dangerous thing (case in point, the sticky toffee pudding is 6000 calories, sans the toffee sauce) and if I am making one, I like to make something new or something I haven't perfected yet, otherwise, where's the fun? 

Originally, I thought I should make him an ice cream cake, but one day, we were wandering around Whole Foods, and I found Mike desirously eyeing a tres leches cake. So I asked him if he preferred that for his birthday and he said yes! 

Then a couple of days ago, I felt restless, that my soul needed purging. So I proceeded to get spectacularly drunk, sobbed over a video call with my best friend, telling her I miss everyone! to which she said, Paru...I will call you later, ok? Everyone's here. For the record, she called, so she has to get over the embarrassment of witnessing what she did. I handled the actual purging with the intent and composure--sleeves rolled up and head down the toilet--that comes from the shame of being (almost) 35 years old and still doing this. Eventually, I fell asleep to head scratches from Mike. I woke up the next morning, rinsed my mouth with Listerine, and cozied up next to him in his bedroom, which smells, but in a familiar way, like a dog, but perhaps not. He murmured some comforting nonsense to me, then suddenly said, you should make sticky toffee pudding. Well, I absolutely wanted to, it is only the best dessert in the world, the reason I knew Peter would win the Great British Bake Off, because he had much the same idea, the right idea. I was like, are you sure? I will make anything you want, its your birthday. But he said it didn't make that much of a difference, he could get tres leches from Whole Foods anytime.

So I made the pudding/cake, following Jamie Oliver's instructions as precisely as possible, except for the rum in the toffee sauce part. I even got a bundt pan, something I've been wanting to do, but previously held off on because of the obvious limited use I would have for it. At midnight, we put 32 sparkly candles on it and rushed to light them all before they melted on to the cake. 

I think, we are making happy memories.