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Jack's Big Day

Jack is my Epiphany baby. He also shares a birthday with my husband's oldest brother. Did I ever mention that three of my six kids share birthdays with Tony's siblings? Strange but true. Anyhoo, finding a cake to make for Jack is challenging, considering the fact that I cannot use milk or butter. This year I tried my hand at an angel food cake. I enjoy cooking meals, but desserts are different. Cooking is not so precise. I mean, I can make substitutions or even change things up completely and make it my own. Baking, however, requires strict adherence to the directions, and there were lots of directions for this cake. I don't know if it would still come out good if you didn't fold in 1 cup of sugar, 2 Tbsp. at a time or not, and I was afraid to try. Or what would happen if you added the vanilla, almond extract and salt in the second to last addition of sugar instead of the very last addition?

That is why I poured a glass of this! I was getting so stressed. With my apron on, I felt very domestic and retro, so I decided to use black and white for the photos.

The wine bottle also came in handy for the cooling process, which the cookbook stated I had to immediately invert the cake for cooling on a bottle or funnel for at least 2 hours.
Jack reminded me all day that we needed to have 4 candles for his cake. He also wished all those who called him yesterday a Happy Birthday. Then we dimmed the lights, lit the candles and sang. Just our little family, gathered around the table, all smiling.



Here he is getting ready to blow out the candles. My big boy.


Happy Birthday Jack!




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