To set the scene... it is nearly 2 years ago, and Small Clanger is turning 4. We celebrated with a dinosaur birthday party, complete with "real dinosaurs" and Land Before Time birthday cake. A friend, M, while stuffing cake in his pie hole asked "when it's my birthday, will you make me a cake please?" I said yes, and spent the next 8 months pondering what to make (his birthday is in September). He promptly forgot.
Fast forward 8 months. I've made a chocolate sponge with orange buttercream, and a plain sponge with white chocolate chunks and rum-soaked cranberries in it, and filled with white chocolate and rum buttercream. He ate cake for every meal for several days. I mentioned that now it was his turn to make me cake.
Fast forward another 10-11 months (can't remember exactly when). It's coming up to his birthday again soon and I'm being asked if I will be making another cake. I answer no - first the cake must be reciprocated.
It turned into an ongoing thing actually. Any mention of the word cake and the conversation ultimately ended with me saying "you gonna make me a cake then or what? Eh? Eh?" and him shouting "will you just leave me alone! I don't bake!" only much less politely than that.
He offered to buy me one. I refused. He offered to get his partner, R, to make me one. I refused that too. Eventually he agreed to make me one, but stated that "the Great British Bake Off it will not be!"
In all honesty, I was not expecting this cake to ever materialise. But I was actually ok with that. In twenty years it would just be one of those stories told around the Christmas/birthday dinner table... "remember that time that I made him cake and d'ya know he still hasn't made me one in return!" etc etc. It had passed from my mind. I was a bit sad around my birthday. I think there's something a bit depressing about making your own birthday cake. But another friend brought me buns to cheer me up (which was when I made my first cake-related post), and I loved them despite the burned bits :)
So, when M and R turned up yesterday afternoon to have a cuppa and pick up their Christmas hamper, and I was presented with this...
...I nearly cried. 3 layers of chocolate heaven, and Amaretti biscuits to complete the pretty. I think it would be well placed on the Great British Bake Off. I even posted on fb that I didn't want to cut it because it was so beautiful. It tastes as good as it looks, in fact possibly even better. You can barely detect the gallons of pure spite he lovingly poured into it. (I was also assured that was taste tested by R, so we could be fairly certain no poison had "accidentally" slipped into the mix).
It has been made clear to me (and indeed, all M's other friends on fb) that I am a member of a most exclusive club. M's baking requires bribery and comes in 15-year cycles so no cake for me next year. At least, not from him. I do, of course, realise that this was largely a calculated attempt to get me to shut up and get off his case about reciprocal cake. It's worked. For now.
Despite all this, I wanted to say a public thank-you to M for my fabulous cake - I really appreciate it. Oh, and consider yourself booked for the next installment in 15 years time! ;)
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