
A friend whose birthday was last week asked, when I offered to make it, that I choose which chocolate cake to bake. Her husband told me long ago that she is very fond of dark chocolate, so I decided to make a 3-layer devil’s food cake using strong coffee as the liquid, and to double the chocolate in my favorite icing. When describing it to a couple neighborhood children about to have a piece, one of them nailed it. “Ah, this is a chocolate coffee cake.” Yes, it is. Birthday girl liked it, too.


I know. I’m weird. I photograph some weird things for visual food. These were taken on different days. They’re so cheerful, definitely for a birthday.