Treat of the Week: My Thirty-Eighth Birthday Dinner

On December 12, 1911, King George V and Queen Mary were crowned Emperor and Empress of India. Sixty-two years later, on December 12, 1973, I was born, it seems, so someone would write about King George V and Mary of Teck.


Though my birthday is technically today, we celebrated yesterday with a wonderful meal and a stunning cake from my mother’s kitchen.

My mother created a recipe that she knew I would love for dinner—chicken breasts in cream with white beans, shallots and leeks. It was gorgeous and I ate far more than I should. This was served with broccoli, herbed pasta and brown bread (Queen Mary’s favorite).

As much as I loved the dinner—and I really did—for me, a birthday is all about the cake. And, as you all know, my mother’s cakes never disappoint. This year’s is a real stunner! And, it also has matching cupcakes.

Iced with Swiss meringue butter-cream infused with strawberry jam, a homemade strawberry cake has been layered with fresh chocolate ganache and a filling of wild strawberries in alternating layers. Atop the cake is a fleur-de-lis in chocolate ganache which—and I don’t know how she manages this because ganache is soft—my mother cut independently from her her own ganache and applied to the cake. It has been piped with dots and rosettes and it’s just the most perfect cake. I’ve dreamed of this cake for the last year. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a fondness for strawberry. The fact that there’s an ever-present mug of strawberry candy (a Queen Elizabeth II Coronation mug, no less) on my desk is testimony to that. So, this cake couldn’t have been more perfect.

In fact, I think I’ll go have a piece now. We had a lovely day and I’m looking forward to a great year with my family, the Bertie Dog and all of you!