Sweet 16

"We haven't had kransekake
for a while," Aaron said
when I asked him what
sort of birthday cake he wanted
for his Sweet 16th.

And so it was:
with equal parts
powdered sugar
and ground almonds
bound together by egg whites.

In fact,

the whole house

smelled sweet

as I baked six pans

of graduated rings

- three at a time -

and later drizzled them
with icing to form
Norway's celebrated cake
which is wrapped in plastic
to "age" and gain
its characteristic chewiness.

Numeric candles,

Swedish fish,

gobstoppers

and a

 miniature Jeep

garnished

the macaroon

wreath cake

for a moment.



And then,
it was gone.

All but the
Sweet 16!