birthday love

this is the story of my mother-in-laws birthday cake! her mother is a wonderful little german woman, who can bake the pants off most people. she has this special birthday cake, pictured above. she has made this cake her whole life, for her children's birthdays. she is getting a little older now, and lives farther away from her daughter, so this cake has fallen into my hands. one year oma taught me how to make it, and now i've been making it for my mother-in-law. this butter cream torte is definitely one of a kind. it requires a lot of time, mess (see above), and ingredients. but it is good, and i definitely look forward to the challenge each year. i always seem to forget a step or ingredient, but i'm determined one of these years to get it just so.