Despatches from a mother who started late (and is running to catch up)

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Count your blessings

I enjoy ordering cakes - so many enjoyable micro-decisions, such as choosing the colour of icing, agreeing the exact wording that will spiral across the cake's snowy surface, weighing up something called an "optional shimmer effect", deciding type and width of border, debating the merits of square cakes versus round, Victoria sponge or Madeira. It makes me feel in control making decisions like those, (as opposed to the biggies like where to live, how to get back to work, where our children will go to school). The last cake I ordered was for my wedding, a fantastical three-tiered arrangement iced with hearts and flowers that came from a cake-maker in Oxfordshire. Oh, I loved that cake. One of the tiers came to live with us afterwards and remained on top of a kitchen unit for several years, until, eventually, we had to give up on our plan of dusting it down and reviving it with brandy for Beanie's Christening and relinquished it, amid a cloud of dust, to the dustbin. Life at the time was so chaotic I'm not even sure the poor cake had the dignity of shuffling off its mortal coil by going to one of Vavay's favourite refuse bins. However, last week I ordered another special cake (lest you are wondering, a square Victoria sponge, filled with butter cream and jam, complete with optional shimmer effect) as we're about to have a blessing ceremony for our girls. Our great friend Vanessa from Fidra Books and my sister Auntie 'Ona are to be godmothers to Beanie. On Saturday The Godmothers (as Vavay calls Vanessa and 'Ona) and I piled round to Auntie 'Ona's for an evening of wine and fun at a girls-only dinner (our excuse being that we are doing the Moon Walk together) that felt like the feminine equivalent of wetting the baby's head. Childhood friend Zornhau and his lovely wife Kirsty are doing the same for Button. The cake is ordered. Let the festivities begin.

Posted 11 May 2009 15:54

Daughters

Comments

zornhau! said:

Cake? CAKE? Surely you mean oxen to cook over the fire, once we have finished dancing round it and invoking Wotan?

Posted 11 May 2009 20:28

iota said:

We kept the top layer of our wedding cake for a potential christening cake, but it was all dried out and horrid when it came to it (less than 2 years later). I wish someone had told us to put it in the freezer rather than silver foil and tupperware.

Have a great time celebrating - and enjoy the cake! I bet it's pink?

Posted 11 May 2009 20:31

Helen said:

Oxen would have been great, Zornhau, but for the sticking point that Vavay happens to be vegetarian. And smokeless fuel regulations in the New Town being what they are, the fire might have been hard to arrange. But still, I like the idea!

Iota, not pink, ivory! We're having a break from all things pink. Freezing doesn't work either, (I found) unless you sre talking sponge cake. I was told traditional fruit cake keeps best in tupperware - topped up with judicious amounts of brandy.

Posted 11 May 2009 21:25