CAKE!

Before I begin to talk about the cake you see here...let me just describe my environment right now:

I am sitting in my bedroom here at my house with a bowl full of boiling flowers near me and a moist towel around my head. The flowers are manzanilla and Lilian (host mom) is convinced that they will help cure my nasal congestion. Next, I am to drink a flower mixture of manzanilla and canela (cinnamon) to ensure the clearing of nasal passages.

Across the hallway, 2 of the granddaughters are having a sleepover (they are 7) and are getting a kick out of listening to me try to pronounce words that I don't know how to say...like "Sierna" (The word for Little Mermaid). Meanwhile, they can be overheard having conversations in French, German, English and Spanish....okay, I am having enough trouble with one language here! Anyway, Cecelia and Natalia are really cute and very smart and reminding me how much fun sleepovers used to be when I was little...they are on the right hand side of the photo above.

Today was Lilian's birthday! I had mentioned to Teddy earlier in the week that I like to bake and so I offered/was asked to bake the birthday cake for the big get together today. This all seemed like a great idea until I realized that this would require obtaining a recipe or two, translating it into Spanish, going to the store to buy ingredients and then navigating my way around someone else's kitchen. Needless to say, this was a good independence-maker! One thing I hadn't thought of was the altitude difference (I am nearly 2 miles above sea level) and am very grateful that Lilian caught me just before I poured the cake in the pan and asked if I had adjusted the recipe. (For inquiring minds, the "high altitude adjustment" for pretty much all cake recipes is: Add 3 extra Tablespoons of Flour and 2 extra teaspoons of Baking powder!)

Pulling from various things I had seen in the kitchen and noticed in the sweet treats here, the resulting cake was this:
Chocolate-Lemon Layer Cake with a Dulce de Leche and Almond filling topped off with Vanilla cream frosting. It was liberating adding ingredients that I found around the kitchen, but I was a little nervous about the overall taste. It turned out not that bad. Of course, I didn't have my plethora of icing doodads to help with the decorating!

At the birthday party I learned some interesting tidbits about Bolivian parties:
1) Bolivians have a traditional cake that is eaten at birthdays (although not at this one today) that is long and skinny in shape and filled with dulce de leche (I got that part right!) and they call it Gypsy Arm or Brazo de Gitano. No one seemed to know why this is the nickname!
2) When smiling for a picture here you do not say "Cheeeeese." Instead you say "Whisssssskey."
3) After blowing out your candle(s) everyone begins to clap and the clapping speeds up until someone pushes your face in the cake.
4) You should have a drink in your hands at all times ready to respond to the ever so often heard cry of "Salud!" at which point everyone drinks to the good health of the birthday person.