I am 48 years old and I baked a cake for the first time today! Since I was a child I haven’t been very talented in the kitchen, and for a long time the only thing I could make was soup. I was really good at French onion soup though – not just any soup! However, my baking was terrible. As a teenager I vividly remember the time I tried to make pancakes – they were burnt on the outside and liquid inside. My rock cakes did actually have the consistency of rock. And when I tried to make caramel once, we had to smash the plate to get to the caramel. As an adult, I have gradually gained confidence in the kitchen and although my cooking is decent these days, I still rarely bake.

There are a few cookies I can manage now, including Scottish shortbread, which I love. However, I haven’t dared make cake until today. And there was a reason I dared to lose my cake-making cherry today – my son, Theo’s 10^th birthday party. Theo had designed a complicated cake based on his two favorite video games – Minecraft and Terraria and he wanted me to make it. So I decided to rise to the challenge. He helped me mix the ingredients and laid out the figures the way he wanted me to place them on the top.

Before the party, we talked about goody bags for his friends. We didn’t want to spend too much on these as the party had been pricey so I asked Theo if he’d be up for going through his small toys and make 14 grab bags for his friends. So he sat on his bedroom rug selected some bouncy balls, marbles and other little toys, I bought some pencils and candies and we made little grab bags. I don’t think any of the kids were super thrilled with the goodies but I know they all enjoyed the party, and Theo had a blast, which was the main thing today. Plus, the cake was cute and surprisingly delicious!