October Birthday News
Like me, my wonderful neighbors Anita and Dolores have birthdays in October. Over the past five years this happy happenstance has been a cause for a shared autumn celebration with local friends at one of our homes or another. There is always a delicious spread of hors d’oeuvres, salads, and assorted entrees as well as a homemade cake and champagne for toasting the birthday celebrants.
Did I mention cake? But of course! As Julia Child famously proclaimed, “A party without cake is just a meeting.” In the past, I’ve volunteered to bake a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting—a Riggs family favorite for decades. But this October, a new tradition began along our croissant-shaped road here in the Sierra foothills that is worthy of its own celebration.
Earlier this fall, our beautiful and multi-talented neighbor Emilee began teaching her teenage daughter Chloe how to bake sourdough bread. Gorgeous, crisp, golden boules of their sourdough bread can now be ordered and are delivered fresh on Sunday afternoon, wrapped in brown paper bags with clear windows displaying the loaf inside, sealed with a sticker that reads “Homemade for you.”
Their bakery business quickly had a local following, and new bakery offerings were soon added, which led me to think “Why not special-order cakes as well?” Knowing that our October birthday gathering of sage seniors was fast approaching, I gave Emilee my copy of The Cake Bible and asked her if she would be willing to be our personal cake baker for the event. Delighted by the challenge, Emilee perused the famous cake tome and suggested a German Chocolate cake triple-layered between and topped with a rich abundance of crushed pecans and shredded coconut mixed with a buttery caramel icing. And hallelujah! Her choice turned out to be Dolores’ birthday cake favorite.
The evening of last week’s October gathering hosted by our neighbors Carol and Jim, Emilee arrived on foot carrying her bodacious three-layer confection elegantly perched atop my mother Alice’s vintage cake stand. Striding at her side was Emilee’s junior pastry chef Chloe, proudly displaying a plate of her own pastry creation that I’m guessing will become a regular addition to the family’s budding bakery business.
At the end of a memorable evening of fall feasting and toasting, not a chocolaty crumb or caramel encrusted pecan was left on my mother’s venerable cake stand. My copy of The Cake Bible now has a new home just three-minutes up our road from mine. And rest assured, every one of my neighbors is eagerly looking forward to the group’s next birthday gathering and the sweet promise of a cake made to order by Emilee—our very own baker and pastry chef extraordinaire!