eetz my birthday.

guess how old i am!

(we know, molly, you've been talking about it all month.)

okok! i'll shut up after this.

i'm in illinois, spending the day with mum, eating schnitzel, smelling perfume, and perhaps buying a shoe or two. before i left, egg and i celebrated the closing of the year and the start of a new one with this little cake. it was simple yet quirky, fun but not too flashy, and just the flavors i wanted. in other words, this cake was a spot-on reflection of my year as a 24-year-old: less about the hangovers, less about the fireworks, less about the foam-filled tasting menus... and more about the slow, quiet, comfort of it all.

so here i go into 25, still a nail biter and a lunchable lover, and not yet a soufflé master or a regular showerer. i am so excited i could spit!

chocolate cake with halva filling, tahini frosting, and a crap ton of sprinkles

makes 12-16 servings (pictured is a miniature version)

the cake: my go-to chocolate cake, which you can make with four 6-inch pans or two or three 8-inch or 9-inch pans. if you'd like, you can sub 6 tablespoons of the oil in the recipe for six tablespoons of tahini.

the frosting: beat together 4 sticks of butter + 3 cups powdered sugar + 2 tsp vanilla + 1/2 cup tahini + a pinch of ground cinnamon. add more sugar or tahini if desired.

the filling: chop up about 12 ounces of halva (any flavor you'd like) and mix in about 1/4 cup of frosting (or more, as needed) to make a paste.

sprinkles: obviously any kind will do, but i used a mixture of naturally dyed beauties and gold sugar

assembly: spread the halva filling in between the layers of the cake and then frost the outside with the frosting. pour on the sprinkles!

-yeh!