And so began the idea for making half of a cake for Ari’s half birthday.
Several weeks ago, I floated the idea of half of a cake to Ari. He told me he wanted chocolate cake (doable), cream cheese icing (doable), and it should be a drip cake (WHAAAAAAT?!?!?). After a momentary panic, I reached out to my next-door neighbor, who has fabulous decorating skills, and asked her for help. She suggested a chocolate ganache drip cake. After going down the Google rabbit hole for chocolate ganache drip cakes, I settled on a recipe. I considered buying a turntable, but landed up only purchasing a squeeze bottle instead.
Whisking eggs and sugar while still in pajamas.By 7:31 a.m., the cake was in the oven.A 10-minute cool was necessary before removing the cake from the springform pan.It took me longer than expected to get the cake out of the springform pan. Eventually, I got the cake out in tact so it could cool on a wire rack for 90 minutes while the homeschool day began. (Yeah, we started late because, well, I’m human.)By 10 a.m., Isabelle was readng and Ari and I were making cream cheese frosting.Once the crumbcoat was applied, Ari sampled some of the frosting. (It’s really good.)Ari asked to decorate the cake with the ganache. And so he did. He was a little heavy handed.We had a TON of leftover ganache. I was preoccupied with an appointment that began at 12:45 p.m. that I completely lost sight of the fact that we were supposed to cover the top of the cake with the rest of the ganache. Alas, it’s down the drain now so the finished cake looks like this. It looks like it was made by someone who is 5.5 years old, doesn’t it? (I think it’s perfect.)
We will celebrate tonight with buttermilk-brined roast chicken, green beans, and french fries. (Ari is hit-or-miss with green beans, but the rest was requested.) Then, we’ll devour half of a cake in honor of Ari’s half birthday. I cannot wait!
Head over to Two Writing Teachers for more slice of life stories.
I am a literacy consultant who focuses on writing workshop. I've been working with K-6 teachers and students since 2009. Prior to that, I was a fourth and fifth-grade teacher in New York City and Rhode Island.
I'm the author of Craft Moves (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016) and the co-author of Jump Into Writing (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), Welcome to Writing Workshop (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), and Day By Day (Stenhouse, 2010).
I live in Central Pennsylvania with my husband and children. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, doing Pilates, cooking, baking, making ice cream, and reading novels.
View all posts by Stacey Shubitz
26 thoughts on “Half of a Cake for a Half Birthday”
Half birthdays cakes! This is the idea I can really get behind! More than the recipe, where did that 1/2 come from? Ps. Hope you had it with that amazing ice cream you’ve now got me hooked on!
The half cake idea evolved over time. We talked about it for months. Ari was totally into it. We even took out a ruler and measured it in centimeters so we could cut it into two even halves.
No ice cream though. That would’ve been too much before bedtime.
What a fun idea – a half cake for a half birthday! As someone whose birthday is in the summer, I’ve always been enamored of the half-birthday celebration because it’s the one I could celebrate in school. It never quite caught on, but oh! if only I could have gone the half-birthday cake route. I love it!
I remember I got sung to when I was in Kindergarten. The kids sung “Early Morning to You” instead of “Happy Birthday” – which, I believe, may have been the actual first lyrics of the song?
But as the staff birthday treat giver at one of my schools, I TOTALLY put half birthdays up on the lounge calendar and give treats on half birthdays. It does not go unnoticed. =)
Why didn’t I ever work in a place where there was a staff birthday treat giver!?!? That’s an awesome job title to have! LOVE that you celebrate the half birthdays!
Such a fun idea – and I love the photo story. Hope you enjoyed every single bite!
I love seeing this come to fruition. Celebrating life’s moments, big and small, is something I appreciate. Hopefully the green beans are uneventful and don’t inspire tomorrow’s slice. 🤪
I love the way the post is written and illustrated comic book style. It fits the story of a half cake for a 5.5 year old. How clever all the way around!
Yes to all of this. I appreciate your visual narrative these are so much fun. Half birthdays and all days are worth celebrating when we are with the ones we love.
Half birthdays cakes! This is the idea I can really get behind! More than the recipe, where did that 1/2 come from? Ps. Hope you had it with that amazing ice cream you’ve now got me hooked on!
The half cake idea evolved over time. We talked about it for months. Ari was totally into it. We even took out a ruler and measured it in centimeters so we could cut it into two even halves.
No ice cream though. That would’ve been too much before bedtime.
What a fun idea – a half cake for a half birthday! As someone whose birthday is in the summer, I’ve always been enamored of the half-birthday celebration because it’s the one I could celebrate in school. It never quite caught on, but oh! if only I could have gone the half-birthday cake route. I love it!
We need more celebrations in schools too! Why not celebrate half birthdays?!
I remember I got sung to when I was in Kindergarten. The kids sung “Early Morning to You” instead of “Happy Birthday” – which, I believe, may have been the actual first lyrics of the song?
But as the staff birthday treat giver at one of my schools, I TOTALLY put half birthdays up on the lounge calendar and give treats on half birthdays. It does not go unnoticed. =)
Why didn’t I ever work in a place where there was a staff birthday treat giver!?!? That’s an awesome job title to have! LOVE that you celebrate the half birthdays!
Such a fun idea – and I love the photo story. Hope you enjoyed every single bite!
It was delicious. Plus, there’s some left over for dessert tonight. 🙂
So much fun! We need to do some half birthdays around here due to missed parties (Thanks again, Covid!)
Isabelle hasn’t had a birthday party since she was 8 so I totally get it!
I love seeing this come to fruition. Celebrating life’s moments, big and small, is something I appreciate. Hopefully the green beans are uneventful and don’t inspire tomorrow’s slice. 🤪
Oh, the green beans! I think he ate one. We cut him some slack since it was his half birthday.
I love the way the post is written and illustrated comic book style. It fits the story of a half cake for a 5.5 year old. How clever all the way around!
I have almost zero drawing ability so photos felt like the right way to tell this story. (I can take a pretty good picture.)
Love the captions and photos…they add a lot to your slice. The half a cake idea is cute!
Yes to all of this. I appreciate your visual narrative these are so much fun. Half birthdays and all days are worth celebrating when we are with the ones we love.
The last sentence of the last photo is the heart of the slice.
I love the pictures! Could make for a picture book!
Thank you!
Your idea and the pictures you share are terrific. Ari is a lucky to have you.
I’m pretty lucky that I get to be his mom!
Best idea ever! The joy in this post is fantastic, in Ari and in your role to provide the celebration and memorable moment.
It was such fun!
And tonight’s leftover cake wasn’t bad either. 😊
I never thought about half birthdays, but LOVE the idea! 🙂 And I love your animated photos!
Oh half a cake for a half birthday, just love it! The teacher side of me wants to turn it into a lesson on fractions, but better not!