On less being more and my husband's birthday in the form of the best cake he ever baked!

And so today is my husband's birthday. He deserves the world, really. I mean, he does have his own personality, and he can be annoying at times, and he is not perfect, like no one is, right? But no one else in my life has been here for me the way he is, no one has been more supportive and understanding and helpful and trustful and protectful and such a good friend as he has been. I love him for all that, and a lot more. We'll be having a quiet celebration at home, just the three of us, with the phone ringing off the hook for sure, as family members call to wish him a happy birthday. Dinner will be had in the kitchen as usual, but we'll set a pretty table, me and the boy, and there'll be a centerpiece of flowers and there will be cake.

Not this cake, though. The one for tonight is now cooling out of the oven, so I can decorate it with fresh fruit and quince jelly. It'll grace the blog, eventually, with its own set of pictures and its recipe for your delight, if I manage to pull off what I have in mind. It won't be this cake, but I'm hoping it will look as pretty as this cake does. Because, much as this one here, I know fairly well what I want my hubby's birthday cake to look like! But I may be going over the board on that cake, and not settling to my philosophy of less is more wher it comes to cakes - mainly because I do lack the talent to pull off gorgeously attired cakes!

About this one, though. The simplest of cakes, maybe, but there are a lot of mixed flavours in it. Recipe will be posted as soon as I get the know how from my husband, as he was the one who invented it from scratch. I did the decorating, if I do say so myself it has come out rather striking, but the flavours are all Hugo's. And what flavours!! A moist, tender cake, tasting of almonds and hints of carrot and apple, not too sweet, covered in a tart quince jelly, with dried roses and a scatter of petals over it... this cake is like a high fashion top model, where less is so much more when it comes to the way its dressed up!!

It's a funny thing, less being more, isn't it? I don't think that is the motto of this age, not really. It comes to my mind that this age is one for more is more is more, over the top ostentability in everything, in every part of our lives. More money, and more work hours to make for that money, more clothes and shoes and bags and make up and gadgets to be bought with that money, more adornement in one's self, more expensive items to show off, more make up to seemingly cover up one's real self, more masks, more fake body parts, more cars, more friends on social media, more followers, more fads, more exclusive ingredients, more layers in a cake, more more more.

I got caught in the whirlpool of more a few years ago. I only realised that recently, funny enough. I noticed it as I was going through my shoe collection - see, the fact I have to name it a shoe collection should give it away my being caught in the more is more trend - because I was holding on to shoes that were ruined beyond repair, or didn't fit me anymore, or simply were just not the thing I wanted to wear these days. A lot has changed in me, not only style wise, but mainly in my body. I suffer from rheumatism and cannot for the life of me walk for miles on end atop a pair of very high heels, or stilleto heels for that matter. I was holding on to shoes I couldn't wear on a daily basis, shoes that ended up cluttering my wardrobe and my style.

You see, it was so strange to notice that whenever I thought of my self, and tried to pinpoint when I was at my most stylish - my style never being a "less is more", plain jane kind of thing -I realized that my mind always went back to a time in life when I had about two to three pairs of shoes per season, and a wardbrode that was not all that big. There wasn't much choice, but none of the pieces were plain, boring things. I didn't go through mornings of stressful despair as I tried to figure out what to wear, what to pair with what, the shoes, the handbags. I was complimented on my personal style regularly, and yet, I had a very small wardrobe. But then I got caught on the more trap.

As I parred down shoes, sweaters, jeans, pants and coats from my actual wardrobe, I realised I had cluttered myself way too much, and although I had tried to experiment with a more trendier, fashionist style by filling up my drawers with the latest trends, I found myself going back once and again - and feeling more comfortable and stilish in - to looks that were very personal to me, a style that though not being on trend, was much more my own self. I feel the same with the embelishment of cakes and food styling. My style, my persona in this is a less is more kind of thing, so why should I strive to make it different? I might enjoy seeing it in others, but it won't be my voice. So, in order to keep my own self, as my husband took this delicious cake out of the oven, which he had baked in order to try my new baking tin, I knew straight away I wanted to keep it simple, with a layer of jelly to make it shine, and a few dried flowers to embelish it. Dried flowers to me are so Miss Havisham, so victoriana, so Edwardian, and at the same time so romantic, fitting for a day where I get to celebrate yet another birthday withn the man I love and who has stood beside me all these years! And yet, I do feel he deserves that I try and go the extra mile for his own cake, that I make an effort of coming out of my comfort zone and try for a more elaborate decoration for his cake... we'll see how that one goes!