A Birthday Cake: Before and After

Alexander asked me to make a birthday cake for him.

“You are the best chef I have ever seen”, he said, and stretched out a finger, “it is a compliment.”

Now with this compliment, I have to, and must home make this cake.

So what kind of cake would you like to have? I asked.

He first proposed a fruit cake with sponge cake base and strawberry cream filling with a cherry on top.

And he laid emphasis on the cherry on top and described it as sweet glossy like candy. I did google Sweetened cherry. Finally I realized what he wanted was Maraschino cherry.

But he changed his mind even before I drafted the cake design. “Can you make a dog-shaped cake?

NO! I refused right away.

“Why not, MOM? You cannot give up so easily before you give it a try.” He added, “that is what you’ve been teaching me.”

“I know what I am capable of, and your request is totally beyond my ability.” I started to feel offensive.

He was quite a bit. Then he quickly came up with another new proposal that really pissed me off. I know I should not lose my temper, but I just could not hold it anymore.

He asked: “what about making a christmas tree?”

“No Alexander. You don’t understand.” I raised my voice, “ making cake is not like you snap the finger and you get what you want just like magic. It takes time to prepare! I spent the whole night preparing fruit cake with cherry on top, but you kept changing your mind. I really cannot deal with it.”

“FINE!” he yelled back, running back to his room.

A few minutes later, he came out again with a piece of paper on hand. He handed the paper to my nose, and said: “Ok, no more argument, and this is my final offer.”

He scribbled a big triangle in the middle of the paper, on top of which stood a cherry. And he wrote a short note next to it: Pyramid with cherry on top.

And that is the whole story of Alexander’s 7-year-old birthday cake.

I swear, I’ve tried, to my best.