Mom always made a chocolate cake from a Betty Crocker mix. Mom wasn't a fancy baker or cook but she did the best she could. I always liked a white cake but she made it a little too dry, devils food worked best.

It's not birthday cake in our family unless it's Overnight Cake with Mock Whipped Cream frosting.
Overnight cake is a mock angel food cake that really takes 2 days to make. You start by combining cake flour and sugar with boiling water, and letting it sit covered on the counter overnight. The next day you beat egg whites, almond flavoring and cream of tartar until stiff, then fold in the first mixture.
Mock whipped cream frosting is almost as fidgety. Boil flour and milk mixture, cool, and add to whipped butter, crisco and sugar mixture.
We were able to find a baker who would make this cake for our wedding. It was wonderful to have my favorite cake for our wedding.

My favorite cake (as well as my older brothers) growing up was devil's food with caramel icing (which my grandmother always made from scratch on a cocoa-spice cake). Now it's a favorite of our two boys, as well as their spouses and children!

I'm always looking for an excuse to make Pistachio Inside-Outside cake! I need other people to help eat it so I don't eat the whole thing myself. You can do a Google search for the recipe. It's made with a package of Jell-O pistachio pudding. The best part is the pudding-frosting which I serve on the side and just dollop individual servings.

My birthday "cake" is strawberry-rhubarb pie. If the daughters are busy, my DH makes it for me. DH has 4 layer chocolate cake. I bake my Wacky cake in 2 9" pans and slice them in half. Then alternate the layers with chocolate pudding and chocolate butter cream frosting. Serve with chocolate ice cream, of course! Chocolate overload! Oh, and remember to NOT slice straight across the cake when serving. If the pudding is too soft, or the kitchen is too warm, it'll slide right off the serving plate. Ask me how I know.

I'm 75, and I always requested a Ukrainian Nut Torte for my birthday. There's one dozen eggs, a pound of ground nuts, 3 tablespoons of bread crumbs, and a pound box of powered sugar. Oh, it's heaven! It takes most of the day to make, but it is worth it! Now my 50 year old son requests it for his birthday!!

German Chocolate Cake does it for me! Homemade, with that yummy coconut pecan frosting! Yum!

We don't bother with holidays or birthdays, just another day, although we do say "happy birthday"

My son always wanted:

Upside Down German Chocolate Cake

1 cup Coconut
1½ cups chopped Pecans
1 German Chocolate Cake Mix
1 stick Butter, melted
1 lb. 10X Sugar
1 (8 oz.) package Cream Cheese, softened

Mix coconut and pecans
Sprinkle onto the bottom of greased 9 x 13” sheet pan
Mix cake mix according to box directions
Pour mix on top of coconut and pecans
Blend cream cheese, sugar and melted butter with a pastry blender
Teaspoon mixture over the top of the cake mix evenly
Bake at 300 degrees for one hour
Test with a toothpick for doneness

...until he found out that there was cream cheese in it. He has always been picky and just arbitrarily decided to eliminate cream cheese from his diet. Now he has decided that he's rather have shortbread cookies:

Shortbread Cookies

2-1/2 sticks Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups All-Purpose Flour

Mix butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until well blended. Add salt and flour one cup at a time and mix until thoroughly blended.

Measure .08 ounces of batter on a scale, roll into a ball, and flatten on an ungreased cookie sheet with the bottom of a glass.

Bake in a 325 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on cookie sheet for five minutes. Remove cookies with a spatula onto a cooling rack.

Frost cookies and press into sprinkles. Let air dry several hours before putting into a container.

Makes 43 cookies