When I had fewer kids and more energy, I would really go all out when it came to birthday cakes. I made Thomas the Tank Engine cakes; Dalmatian cakes; Cinderella/Little Mermaid/Sleeping Beauty cakes; cakes upon which intergalactic Star Wars battles were re-enacted.
These days, I can't help but feel my children are being shortchanged somehow. It seems like it's all Chocolate Lace Cake, all the time.
Oh, well. They're great kids; they don't complain. Here's newly-nine-year-old Hope, last night, thinking up a really good wish while we sing to her.
And it's a pretty dang fantastic cake, I must say. If you are a serious baker, you must own Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible. To make Chocolate Lace Cake, use Rose's Chocolate Butter Cake and Neoclassic Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipes. Then follow my instructions here to make the lace.