My mother had the misfortune of being born two days before Christmas.
But she's had the fortune of celebrating her birthday when everyone's in holiday spirits and there are lots of sparkly lights and bottles of bubbly stashed in the refrigerator.
This year was her 75th birthday... a big one, by anyone's standards... and deserving of an over-the-top birthday cake. So I made one, inspired by a cake I've seen Alice Medrich demonstrate to pastry students.
It has all the bells and whistles: a crunchy base made from Rice Krispies, nuts and chocolate... a chocolate genoise soaked in rum syrup surrounding a rich chocolate mousse layer studded with raspberries.... whipped mascarpone topping with chocolate ruffles and more raspberries. As Ina Garten would say.... how bad can that be?
The birthday girl blew out her one commemorative candle, then we all put the champagne glasses aside and dug in. I have to admit that it tasted as over-the-top as it looked... which is a good thing in birthday cake land.
