It's that time of year again!

Sigh - every year in Mid-December I go on a hunt for the perfect white or yellow cake recipe for Andy's birthday cake. 

Every year I search and find recipes with great reviews being very careful to make them exactly as written and not do any substitutions since I want them to turn out - and they don't. 

Every year I try my old recipe from when I used wheat flour and substitute gluten free flours and try and create my own perfect cake recipe - and every year I fail.

Andy doesn't really like chocolate - he'll eat it if I force it on him but not always - and for your birthday you should have the cake you want - so even though I have chocolate cake recipes that are great, I hunt for that yellow or white cake that the birthday boy wants. 

I've tried all of the gluten free cake mixes out there and none of them live up to Andy's expectations (and since it is his birthday - his expectations are all that count).  He pronounces each one too gritty or tastes like corn or some other excuse as to why he won't eat it. 

So every year I give up and either make my tried and true chocolate zucchini cake that he will eat or buy a cake from the gluten free bakery. 

This year is no different.  Andy's birthday is just 3 days away and I have tried 4 different recipes. 

I thought this year would be the year - I did some reading on different types of gluten free flour and learned that the rice flour that I use is probably too gritty and that thai sweet rice flour (also known as glutenous rice flour) has a much finer texture and is best for making cakes.  I though aha - that is it - I've been using the wrong flour - so I sought out an Asian market and found the flour.  But alas, the cake turned out gummy and inedible.  I thought maybe I hadn't baked it long enough - even though I followed the directions to a t and the tester toothpick came out clean.  So I made the same cake a second time and baked it until it looked like it was going to burn - and it still was gummy an inedible. 

Big sigh.

It's getting too late in the game to keep experimenting and it is getting costly to keep throwing out these cakes. 

So this year is not going to be the year that I learn how to make a birthday cake that my young man (how did he get to be 14?) will love. 

I guess I'm off to the gluten free bakery.