“A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit.” –  John Milton

Birthe, at 80, is the master spirit of a rich, beautiful and adventurous life and her book cake for her 80th Birthday had to portray this. It was wonderful that Susan spent the time with me to make sure that I knew all about her mom before I designed the cake. Alicia, her granddaughter, speaks of her grandmother with such love and gentleness that it wasn’t difficult to take both their ideas and include them in the cake. The creative result of a few hours of sweet brainstorming was a cake that would be 3 books showing Birthe’s passion in life.

Birthe is a Danish name and Denmark and the theme of travel was a perfect book to start with as Birthe was born and spent many years in Demark before embarking on many other exciting travel journeys. This book titled A Beautiful Journey, was a delicious red velvet cake, ganached and covered in an elegant cream sugar paste binding. I included the traditional colourful Danish houses, bicycle, the Copenhagen round tower, Danish flag and postcards. Of course no journey would be complete without a carrier bag and luggage tag which made Birthe’s travel book sassy and unique to her.

While not travelling, Birthe’s other passions in life are gardening and sewing and knitting. Beautiful handpainted serviettes were the inspiration for the blue and yellow daisies on The Garden Grower book. The blue embossed book cover portrays the life of a gardener with the sugar fence, wheelbarrrow, bird house, watering can, gloves and of course loads of blossoms. What a beautiful gift Birthe has in being so passionate about nature and her garden and I am sure she has left all the birds singing with delight in her beautiful gardens. Cutting this cake revealed layers of tasty passion fruit and creamy buttercream to complement the theme.

Creative Style applies to all Birthe’s accomplishments and was a perfect title for the 3rd book. When you are 80, you remember a dress pattern costing only 35c! This edible print of a Simplicity pattern from 1965 was a delight in design and colour for this book cover. All the tools a dressmaker requires I added in sugar of course and the fabric and lace are edible additions from Crystal Candy. It was so exciting to have my cake part of such a memorable celebration, with so much detail in the planning and in a beautifully decorated restaurant. Even more special was Birthe and her family and friends’ reaction to many hours spent portraying her character in sugar. Wishing you a wonderful year ahead Birthe and many more spent with such a loving family!