This birthday cake was supposed to (a) look like a real cake, (b) appeal to a one-year-old flavorwise, and (c) be as unsweet as possible, all things considered. So I made an oil-based version of Deb’s smitten kitchen recipe for Perfect Forever Cornbread and I used a large biscuit ring to cut out three layers, which I soaked with an infusion of calendula. For the frosting I used whipped cream cheese with a dab of butter and a shake of beet-and-spirulina food dye. The birthday girl loved eating her cake by the fistful and all the grown-ups loved how pretty it was and how deceptively cakelike it appeared. The older kids were not fooled, but they did admit that a cake like this could be a pretty good breakfast, especially with jam or honey on the side. Only my mom—in her eighties now—pronounced this the only cake she hadn’t put down after the first bite. As for me, I discovered that cream cheese on its own makes a way better frosting than cream cheese runny from all the dissolved sugar, so I think I’ll be using that on my carrot cakes from now on.