Passover birthday cake

Yes - Passover birthday cake! Second time in her 4 years that her birthday has fallen on Passover, though now we're lucky and it won't happen again until 2012. I researched and researched recipes (hope this doesn't surprise anyone) and Katie specifically said she wanted a yellow cake, not chocolate. I was thinking of making Oma's sponge cake, which Debbie reminds me is actually Aunt Flory's recipe. But I felt a little intimidated. First of all, Oma used to get out the ruler to measure how high it came out - must be more than 7 inches in the tube cake pan. Second, they are difficult to frost and what's a birthday cake without frosting? My dad's birthday is right before Katie's and we used to have sponge cake with whipped cream. Peter and I don't like whipped cream so that wasn't an option. And as much as I wanted to honor Oma and carry the tradition of using her recipe to Texas, I didn't think it would be good. My sister Rachel claims she'd rather eat a sponge than a sponge cake.

So I found this recipe from a well-known Jewish baker called "I can't believe this is a Passover cake." And I made the cake. Not happy with the results, I tried again the next morning in spring form pans and using the electric mixer for the whole thing. Here are the beautiful cakes after they fell.

And here's how it looked ready for the table

And here's the interior view. Not too often that I post my culinary achievements. This cake was good! You almost forgot it was Passover. Daiyenu!