Mom's first birthday cake of the year. I am not sure what it is about my family, but we seem to be having multiple celebrations for everyone's birthdays. We have a little tradition of going to the Hollywood Bowl for Reggae Night each year. My husband and I have a box subscription in the summer and it is lovely because we can dine out, under the stars. I usually try and concoct some sort of theme for the menu and often, the show itself, is my inspiration. This night, I chose to make Salmon with a soy & maple reduction, cold sesame peanut noodles, fruit salad with mint and ginger, and apricot slaw. This was the dessert... a coconut rum cake. It was pretty good, although I made several goofs along the way. (READ those recipes, people! Even when there are little children around to distract you!) I put too much coconut milk into the cake. And the frosting, well, let's just say it took some effort to get it to work. Can't tell you what I did, exactly. But everyone seemed to like it. My Mom humored me and told me that it was her new favorite. Her real birthday isn't until next week. We'll have to see what she has to say then!
