So many birthday choices, so little coconut cake

Danielle Pelkey Commentary

Who says you have to eat cake on your birthday? Some people don’t even like cake.

These thoughts come about because this past week I celebrated my last birthday of my 20s. That’s right, I am now 29 years old and I’m heading into the dark hole of the 30s.

My mom always bakes us the cake of our choice for our birthdays. That is part of the fun of it being your birthday. Nobody else gets an opinion on this special day.

We have family members who like devil’s food cake and German chocolate cake. Others choose a more traditional white cake or even a strawberry daiquiri cake (virgin of course). My cake of choice has been a coconut cake my mom makes with coconut milk poured all over it.

Well, after about five years with the same cake I have decided that I need to do something different. My sister chose a banana pudding as her cake for her birthday this past year.

That was such a great idea. Who said you had to have cake? Isn’t it your day to decide what kind of desserts that you will devour in honor of the day your mother gave birth to you?

While mulling it over in my mind, many of my favorites were tossed around.

Maybe I would like a banana split. That one is different enough. Maybe I wanted a truffle or soufflé. Maybe a white chocolate molten lava cake, or even a pie. Who says you can’t have pie?

My dad chooses to have lemon pie for his birthday cake, and no one says a word about it.

What if I want an oversized salad for my cake?

Maybe that one is a little overboard. But a Mississippi mud pie would hit the spot.

The problem is that I am working on a deadline. I had to tell mom what kind of cake I wanted by yesterday at lunch. Time was ticking away and I was determined to get a different dessert than anyone had ever had on their birthday.

So what did I do? Honestly, I ran out of time and had no brilliant ideas, so once again I will be eating one of my favorite cakes on my birthday … coconut.

Maybe in the next year I can come up with a more original birthday dessert, but until then, let the coconut flakes fly.