We have a big birthday tradition at the bakery, one that we started very early on. When your birthday is coming up, you tell me a flavor (or several) that you’re craving and I make you something, anything with that flavor.

I spend a kind of silly amount of time researching and thinking about recipes for people’s flavor requests for their birthdays. Silly not because a birthday celebration isn’t extremely well-deserved but because I realized at one of our most recent birthdays — one of our newish baker Franklin’s birthday in May — that I use the assignment as an opportunity to think about that person and what kind of things they like, and that is no small, short task. I’m most excited by requests for things we never make at the bakery — Julia asked for chocolate and peanut butter. I struggled for weeks with this — but felt committed to honor it because Julia loves chocolate and peanut butter like no one I’ve ever met. Mika requested banana pudding. I had never made it before but I got to use my favorite trifle dish finally, and Mika’s parents were in town so she got to bring them some, too. That made it all the more important to get right.

Franklin had requested chocolate and fruit and I went down a nearly bottomless rabbit hole on panforte, an Italian dried fruit and chocolate chewy “cake” that is mostly served around the holidays. For me, a person who can’t get enough of dried fruit, this cake would be awesome. But when I went to start, I realized that maybe panforte wasn’t Franklin’s scene, actually, it was more mine. So I went with black forest gateau instead. It was very well received and we had a nice time sharing slices.

It probably comes as no surprise that this tradition was long ago instituted by, well, me. I love birthdays and always have. I love my birthday, I love your birthday, I love to be at a birthday party, I love to buy a birthday present, I love to give a birthday card. I just think, as you get older, you are given so few opportunities to really feel special and celebrated and loved by the people around you, and it’s a shame. I know not everyone is as keen as I am, though, so we have one other rule about the birthday tradition: if you don’t want to celebrate with your colleagues and just want to take your treat home with you, that is your choice. So far, though, that’s only happened once and it was an accident.

Anyway, today — Thursday, May 28 — is my birthday and I was really craving donuts so I’m frying donuts this morning for you. We’re selling them in 4-packs with no flavor substitutions — a 4-pack consists of a Boston creme, strawberry sugar, toasted coconut, and buttermilk vanilla glaze. When we run out, we run out, so come early. The early bird gets the birthday donuts. They’re sourdough milk bread donuts, btw, not cake donuts, in case that changes your feeling one way or the other.

That’s all for now. Happy birthday to everyone.

xo,

Dayna

Dayna’s What’s Up Corner
There are so many really good albums out! New Kevin Morby album is a heartbreaker; maybe his best yet? I love the new Maluma album — I am back to working on my very mal Spanish. I love the Dua Saleh record, too. I saw I Love Boosters with Kev and Rachel at 10:15am over the weekend and I love Boots Riley’s freaky, funny heart — go see it. I read The Spinach King about a farming dynasty in South Jersey — enjoyable! Anything you’ve been into lately?