A simple birthday cake to celebrate simplicity

I forgot to tell people that I wanted a real birthday cake on my birthday. An honest-to-goodness real birthday cake. I had carrot cake and other kinds of cake. They were good, but they didn’t feel like birthday cakes. There is a difference.

I’m talking about the kind that is white. It might have a filling, and it’s decorated with white frosting and maybe sprinkles. Yes, definitely sprinkles.

Everyone tries to be fancy these days. They want to impress with macarons and tiramisu. Those are good for fancy occasions but not birthdays. On birthdays, I like a good old-fashioned birthday cake.

The kind that looks like it was made for a five-year-old. It has holes on top from where the candles were removed. The slices are served on paper plates with a scoop of Neapolitan ice cream. The sugar is almost too much to handle, but you tell yourself it’s a once-a-year kind of indulgence.

When you see it, you feel like a kid. It doesn’t have to have Disney characters on top or frosting that turns into different colors on the outer edges. There’s no need for candy to slide out of the middle when you slice into it. All that stuff is O.K., but it’s not for me.

I didn’t get a simple, traditional birthday cake this year, but I’m determined to have it next year. I think as I get…