Once again, this year, I tried to find a bakery where I could buy what many consider to be the traditional birthday cake: yellow cake with chocolate icing. Once again, I failed. The bakeries I checked with actually told me that I should just buy a mix from the store and my brief internet search suggested that as well.

I do not understand why this attitude of “a mix is better” does not apply to other flavors as well. Here, for instance, is Freed’s Bakery list of cake flavors:

Signature Cake Flavors

– White Cake
Our signature white cake is both light and delicious. The perfect base for any flavor combination.

– Chocolate Cake
Our chocolate tea cake is rich and decadent and just perfect. A bit heavier than our white cake, though still fluffy and delicious.

– Marble Cake
Can’t decide? The perfect marbleized swirl of our white and chocolate cake.

– Red Velvet Cake
Our traditional rich red velvet cake. Deep flavor and a deep color.

– Almond Cake
A light white cake with a lovely almond flavor. Great with raspberry, amaretto, or Nutella.

– Lemon Cake
A light lemon cake with a flavorful citrus burst. Great with seasonal favorites like strawberry or raspberry.

– Carrot Cake
Our classic carrot cake chock full of pecans and fresh carrot. Perfect with our signature cream cheese filling.

There are Betty Crocker cake mixes in all of those flavors (and more) except almond. So why is yellow cake different?

At any rate, it was clear that I would have to bake my own cake (using the Betty Crocker mix) and I did so:

And since I had all the accouterments, I went all out and created a true birthday cake for myself:

I must say it was very good. I will be freezing a lot of it to enjoy in the coming months.