I remember clearly my 6th birthday cake: it was bright yellow, it had ceramic figures of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves accompanied by forest creatures within the buttercream grass. A styrofoam cottage led to a plastic bridge placed over a strip of blue gelatin pretending to be a creek. My mom used to make all our birthday cakes every year and I wanted to learn how to make that kind of sugar magic too. Once I was old enough to handle the oven on my own, she let me borrow her kitchen to make my own chocolate chip cookies, meringues and guava tarts. I haven’t stopped baking since.