Citrus birthday cake

This is the cake that a friend made me, after my disastrous attempt at caking my own birthday cake. She got the recipe here, from the site that contains my grandmother's old handwritten recipes and notes.
That made the cake so much more special: knowing that the cycle continues, that old recipes are made again and again and handed down, and that this particular recipe has probably seen tens of birthdays and wll continue to do so. It's a delicious whipped sponge, with flecks of bitter orange rind through the mixture.

The recipe calls for a chocolate icing, but she swapped it for a plain orange juice-and-sugar one, and sprinkled it with silver cachous. It was delicious, eaten late at night, shared around with other tasty treats.

The next day I had to have an afternoon slice, but this time I threw on some passionfruit pulp (also grown by this same friend, from her back yard tree...) It was fantastic. Beside it you can see my fabulously beautiful Mel Robson ceramics: a mini teapot and matching cup, decorated with sewing decals. They are almost too good to use, but I always use them once a week for my breakfast tea tranfusion...