Not knowing that, one day, my fate was going to be intimately tied to this land, Africa seemed a place too distant to be reached as a child. Its vast species of animals and the wild beauty of its landscape have fascinated me from an early age. As a trip to this exotic land was a far dream back then, I had to settle on following “Nature”, the TV program, to give wings to my little heart to glide over the open fields and mountainsides of Africa.
Although my dream of going to Africa has not been realized just yet, an opportunity presented itself for me to celebrate the birthday of one of my dearest friend, E, by taking a trip down memory lane Back to Africa with him. E had brought back a beautiful wall ornament from African. This ornament is like a small painting. As I admired this piece of art, E explained that it was made with banana leaves, depicting a scene from an African village in the older days with traditional huts and women beating corns in a bucket. Although these traditional huts rarely exist today, E fondly remembered the times he did spend with his grandmother in huts just like these as a child.
So for E’s birthday cake, I decorated the cake with a scene from a traditional African village on top of a vanilla butter cake with raspberry chocolate ganache.
The huts are sculpted 3-D cakes covered with straws on the roof made with modeling chocolate. The huts have wooden doors and windows made with modeling chocolate.
In front of the huts, two ladies are beating corn with a wooden stick.
Another lady is carrying a water bucket on top of her head as traditional African women do.
A typical African tree stands to the left side of the huts.
Ah, the beauties of Africa! My heart longs to be Back to Africa to glide over its meadows again, even it is just in a dream. May this cake give wings to your heart, to take you Back to Africa to relive some of your fondest memories, dearest E. And Happy Birthday!
If you would like a custom-made cake for a special occasion, please feel free to contact me at tweetealicious@gmail.com. You may also subscribe to future postings by clicking on the “Sign Me Up!” button to the right at www.tweetealicous.com or find Twee-tea-licious on Facebook and join the network for future postings.
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