So, last week I was very uncertain about my birthday-related feelings. And this week... eh, I just want to show you my cake!

One of my friends sent me a video of a guy making a mini wedding cake and I knew that's exactly what I wanted to make for my birthday this year. Last year's cake was massive, so I liked the idea of creating something a bit more dainty this time. Also, I did not like the flavors the guy used in the video (almond cake with apricot, lemon curd, and some kind of toffee fillings), so I opted for a more tropical take on his cake and decided on strawberry, mango, and passion fruit fillings.

Now, I almost decided not to make this cake at all. At one point, I just wasn't really feeling it and thought about ordering my old favorite birthday cake from Publix (vanilla cake with strawberry filing, whipped cream frosting, and strawberries on top), but I figured if I wasn't going to make this little cake for my birthday, I probably wouldn't end up making it at all.

So, here's how it turned out...

How'd I do? LOL!

This was my first time using passion fruit pulp, and the filling came out surprisingly well once I mixed in some mango pieces. The passion fruit pulp was more like juice than anything so I boiled it down with some sugar into a syrup and mixed in tiny pieces of mango. The three flavors went really well together, and I couldn't be happier with how it tasted.

NOW... as for the structure of the cake... [face palm]. I didn't remember to frost before I stacked (also didn't have dowels) so it rapidly started tilting to the floor before I could even add the last layer (there was supposed to be a tiny 4th tier of cake).

I will probably try this again with better technique and tools. Also, there's a lot of cake left over.

There's also frosting and fillings left over, so we're probably going to cut the cake scraps into little pieces and top them as we wish and eat it like that.

Anyway, that's this year's cake. It was fun to try something new, and remind myself that most things aren't perfect the first time I try them. I look forward to trying this one again, and it coming out better and being really cute. I severely underestimated this tiny cake, but I'll be prepared next time. Ha!

I hope yall have a wonderful Sabbath. I intend to spend Sabbath morning at the beach then coming back home for my traditional birthday Sabbath lunch—tender bit casserole, yellow rice, spinach, and rolls.

Be blessed.

-CH