I turned 30 on Thursday. When people found out it was my
birthday and asked “Is it a big one?” I did the polite thing and said “Yes!
30!” even though, in my opinion, every birthday of mine is a big one. After all, it is a celebration of
the moment when I graced the earth but I did not want to sound more
self-conceited than I already looked with my tiara and birthday sash on.
In all seriousness though, 30 is a bit of a mind-bender for
me. Here I am, no longer living an
age that begins with a 2 which, when I entered that period (now a full decade
ago), I was in college and felt like I didn’t have much to worry about until
post-education. Now, having lived
those 20-something years, I’m not in the middle of anything really except . . .
living. There isn’t any graduation
or other indicator to tell me that this is the moment I should have
my act together. Apparently, I
already should have that.
If you had asked my 20-year-old self what I expected my
30-year-old self to have accomplished by the time she enters a new decade, I
shudder at the things she would have said because, in all likelihood, I have
not done/bought/born any of them.
But this is no time for regrets. Because I can guarantee that my 20-year-old homebody-self
would never have seen her 30-year-old self successfully living in a city that
she has found intimidating-ly awesome since she first visited at the age of 11.
Or that she would have found a
relatively normal existence in such an abnormal living arrangement that all
folks living in New York seem to understand. Or that she would have managed to keep a diabetic cat alive
for 8 years (Just barely though, we did have to go to the vet on my birthday –
he is his mother’s child, always trying to steal the spotlight).
So, I must say, my 20-year-old self might be surprised but
I’m confident she would be proud.
And probably a little in awe of her 30-something-self. And I can’t blame her, I’m often in awe
of these things too. We all should feel this way because, in all honesty, what do
our 20-something-selves really
know? Not nearly as much as I do
now and I can’t wait to see what my 40-year-old self knows (just kidding, I can
wait for that).
Even so, I imagine all these women representing these stages
in my life will have the same fundamental Mary Jordan-ness. We’ll have the same self-deprecating
humor, an extreme sense of protectiveness to those whom she loves, a dedication to all things Duke, the tendency to
over-analyze things (see previous six paragraphs) and an utter adoration for
anything with sugar in it.
Chocolate Strawberry Nutella Cake
Adapted from The
Pioneer Woman
Note: The original recipe linked above is for a two-layer cake, but I halved
everything and just made a one-layer cake. I am anticipating my metabolism slowing down now that I'm 30.
For the Cake
1 stick butter
2 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup boiling water
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup buttermilk
1 egg
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup Nutella (or more, depending upon if you want a good
smearing or a thin layer on top)
For the Strawberries
1 pint of strawberries
1/8 cup of sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
For the Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
Slice and hull your strawberries. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line one round baking pan with some
parchment paper and spray with baking spray. Melt the butter in the microwave. Add the cocoa, stirring until smooth. Add the boiling water and let sit while
you prepare the other ingredients.
Mix buttermilk, baking soda, eggs and vanilla together in a bowl. Set this aside as well. In a large mixing bowl, mix together
the sugar, flour and salt. Add the
hot chocolate mixture, stirring very gently until it is halfway combined. Pour in the buttermilk mixture and stir
very gently until the batter is completely combined. Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan and bake for
17-20 minutes until just set. Let the
cake cool completely in the pan before doing anything with it (I was impatient and that’s why my cake
has a ‘rustic-edged’ look to it).
Prepare the strawberries by stirring them with the sugar and
the vanilla, letting them sit for 15 minutes.
Using a mixer, whip the cream with the powdered sugar.
Assemble the cake by turning out your cake from its pan once
it has cooled. Spread the Nutella
on top of the cake’s surface.
Spread the whipped cream on top of the Nutella and garnish with your
strawberries. (The juice left over
from the macerated strawberries is delicious. I recommend just drinking it straight from the bowl with a
straw.) Keep chilled until
serving. My cake lasted a few
hours before we served it and it held up quite nicely.
