It was Blue’s birthday on Saturday so he came into our room early. Groggy parents greeted him appropriately, but at first, he flatly denied that it was his birthday. Of course, it probably didn’t seem like it yet. Mum and Dad were still in bed, and the house was definitely lacking in friends and balloons. But after a long look at himself in the mirror to see if he had grown (he decided that he probably had), he climbed into bed with us for a cuddle, and we told him the story about the day he was born. We remembered the weather and the midwives, the comfort and the work. We remembered the relief of his safe birth after long hours. Snuggling under the blankets together, we told our Blue what the midwife had said as she passed tiny him into my arms: one vigorous male. Words of blessing. So he wrestled with us and we sang happy birthday to him.
Then pancakes for breakfast and a treasure hunt for presents. The presents were mainly clothes from the grandparents (thank you!) and from us, a jar of marbles and a wooden bowl to put them in. It wasn’t long before he had hidden himself away behind the sofa to play with them. Success, I thought.
Bean plays soccer on Saturday mornings, so she and her Daddy headed off soon after breakfast and were out of the house much of the morning. There was a bit of a kerfuffle when they left, but I convinced the birthday boy that we didn’t need their help this morning because it only takes two to make a birthday cake.
He’d been thinking about this birthday cake for a long time – ever since his sister’s last birthday cake and that was in June. He’d decided that it had to be a blueberry cake. In August, we found some nice berries at the greengrocer around the corner and popped them in the freezer to wait. Now came the moment to decide: would it be a sandwich cake with his name on top or tiny individual iced cakes for all or a loaf cake with a picture of a train or …? But really, there was no debate because he is – and always has been – one who knows his own mind. Banana slice cake with blueberries. Most definitely. Which was fine by me. Banana Slice Cake is probably the most baked cake around here. I use a Nigella Lawson recipe as an inspiration and adapt as the mood suits. Sometimes, I put on a crumble top, or add candied citrus or fresh cranberries or swirls of caramel, but today it would be blueberries. Of course.
So here we go: a Munnik favourite as adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Breakfast Ring recipe in Feast.
Mash 3 bananas vigorously. Beat in 3 eggs, 60ml corn oil, a scant cup of sugar, zest and juice of ½ a lemon and 1 tsp vanilla.
Whisk together 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, then fold into the wets. We added our blueberries at this stage – a couple of big handfuls of them, just out the freezer. Then pour the batter into a greased ring pan and baked the cake at 350° for 40 minutes. Be sure to let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out.
Sadly, we ate the cake before thinking of the future and so took no photos. But if you make it, you will see – it is perfect and delicious.
We kept the decorating to a minimum – a few blue roll-out icing stars to accentuate the blueberries. But never fear, it wasn’t a sugar-free party by any means. Other than his cake, Blue wanted three things at his party: pass the parcel, storytelling, and cookie decorating. Two out of three – good clean fun with happy kids all sitting in a circle. And the third – a very messy table indeed.
