For my brother's birthday observed, we made him an elephant cake.

The inspiration (and the elephants) were provided by Burdick's. My mother contributed the notion of the lone mouse at the ford. I had fantasies of making a baobab out of marzipan, but we had none, so I made it out of marshmallows dusted with cocoa and just the green flakes out of a sort of confectioner's confetti. The river was blue-tinted granulated sugar and the candles sufficed for tall grass or reeds. The cake itself was three layers of chocolate meringue filled with chocolate mousse. I ate strawberries and whipped cream and the lemon curd made from the dozen egg yolks left over from the meringue. The important thing is that my brother enjoyed it and my niece ate the mouse in time-honored cat-fashion, with the silk tail trailing out of her mouth after she had pounced it whole. And then we had a shattering thunderstorm, which the drought needed, and the cats who are not my niece took refuge on me.

The inspiration (and the elephants) were provided by Burdick's. My mother contributed the notion of the lone mouse at the ford. I had fantasies of making a baobab out of marzipan, but we had none, so I made it out of marshmallows dusted with cocoa and just the green flakes out of a sort of confectioner's confetti. The river was blue-tinted granulated sugar and the candles sufficed for tall grass or reeds. The cake itself was three layers of chocolate meringue filled with chocolate mousse. I ate strawberries and whipped cream and the lemon curd made from the dozen egg yolks left over from the meringue. The important thing is that my brother enjoyed it and my niece ate the mouse in time-honored cat-fashion, with the silk tail trailing out of her mouth after she had pounced it whole. And then we had a shattering thunderstorm, which the drought needed, and the cats who are not my niece took refuge on me.