I’m not sure if I mentioned it in my birthday post but I MADE that beautiful extravaganza* of a cake. Honestly, I made it for 2 main reasons, neither of which involve eating it. First, I had envisioned the birthday photo for a number of weeks. I knew that my birthday was going to be the start of my 365 and I wanted the “42” in candles. It wouldn’t have fit on a cupcake. Also, I wanted to see if I could make a four layer cake. This is actually the second four layer cake that I’ve attempted. The first was a vision in pink — red velvet cake with pink cream cheese frosting — for a friend’s baby shower. That first cake was ok. It tasted amazing but was a little lopsided. I thought that I would try again for my birthday. This time I made the cakes in 6-inch (instead of 9-inch) pans. Not only was the height/circumference ratio easier to deal with in the layering, I think it also made for a more impressive cake.
The cake itself is one of my favourite chocolate cakes from Orangette. The frosting, which I also used between the layers, is a simple buttercream. I thought about doing some fancy frosting like this but I wasn’t sure how much I would have to wrestle with the cake so I decided not to get too fancy all in one go. Then I saw this, which made me think of the shaved coconut I have at home for granola.
I figured that the coconut would hide any frosting imperfections.
I think it went quite well. So in addition to crossing off the layer cake, this also counts towards one of my 500 desserts, so it does double Life List duty.
Speaking of the Life List, thanks to Lesley (who I’m now calling the Life List Whisperer) I crossed off another item earlier this spring. I went to my first roller derby match. It was an exhibition by the Rideau Valley Rollergirls. It was awesome! I loved it as much as I thought I would. Women in hot pants and mouth guards? Hot. It was a really cool experience. I have not been in a room with that many tatooed people since Lolapalooza in the ’90s. Dudes, there was a beer garden. I so want to go to another bout.
* If I do say so myself.
I'm Debra and this is where I come to share my creative pursuits and to dump some of the many thoughts swirling around in my brain. I'm a lover of words and pictures and I aspire to create beauty and inspiration with both.
Manifeisty 
I hope you had a fabulous birthday! Can’t wait to see more Life List items checked off. Wishing you all the best in the year to come!
The cake is so beautiful…and such a beauty all mixed in with Roller Derby. Great reading this and am very impressed! Hope it was a good bday missy, be seeing you soon.
I’m taking Picture Color with you and visiting some blogs. Love the cake and that you made it. I’m writing my life list right now…