This book is a collection of cakes I’ve created for some of my most enduring friendships. 

When I was freshly graduated from college, I wanted to do something special for friends’ birthdays, but had limited options with my $11/hr lifestyle. So I started making cakes. I wasn’t a technically skilled baker, so instead of trying to make the most delicious cakes ever, I sought to create cakes that were as unique and non-standard issue as the birthday celebrant. What started as a frugal solution, turned into a favorite ritual: capturing the majesty of the people in my life in the form of cake.  There have been plenty of flops: weird flavor choices, structural flaws resulting in collapsing sliding monstrosities, and seriously wonky decoration. But I’ve learned a lot, and at the end of the day, eaten a lot of cake.