Unto every father hath been enjoined the instruction of his son and daughter in the art of reading and writing and in all that hath been laid down in the Holy Tablet.
(Baha’u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 37)

Love. Love is what has been laid down in the Holy Tablet. Many more laws indeed but the most profound is the law around which all other laws revolve — the law of love:

Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of God’s holy Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-Merciful, the fountain of spiritual outpourings. Love is heaven’s kindly light, the Holy Spirit’s eternal breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God’s revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things. Love is the one means that ensureth true felicity both in this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 27)

Love can be expressed in many ways. One of the ways I express my love for my dear daughters is by baking for them my special birthday cake.

Three years ago I was unable to be with my daughter Juliet on her first birthday. I was heart broken beyond words. I made a promise to myself then, to make every humanly possible effort to never miss a birthday of either of my beautiful little girls. And so far, with God’s help, not only have I been present at each of their birthdays but I have also baked my birthday cake at each of their birthday parties.

Today my little Juliet turned four and I was so happy to arrange a party for her, her older sister and some dear friends who have helped me throughout this summer of tests and difficulties. I baked the special birthday party that my mother always baked for my own birthday parties. The girls liked the cake and that was nice but what was best of all was seeing the happiness on their bright faces as they hugged me and ran around in their joyous celebration. Being able to share my love with them makes me happy. Being able to recognize that it is God who gave me the gift of having two wonderful daughters and it is God who put the gift of love for them in my heart, makes me doubly happy, and grateful! I feel I have a gift in me to not just be a good father but to be a great father. And I fully intend to share this gift with the ones God entrusted me with.

Birthday cake baking fathers of the world, unite! The world needs more of us (just as the world needs more girl engineers)!

This is a three layer cake where the top and bottom layers are identical but the middle one has walnuts. Each layer is baked separately. After the sugar syrup and the cream are prepared, each layer is covered with syrup and then cream. Finally, the top is decorated with walnuts and chocolate.

Ingredients for each layers

• 3 eggs
• 1 not-full cup of sugar
• 1 cup of flour
• a few drops of vanilla extract
• 1 tea spoon of baking powder

Instructions

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a mixer and add the sugar and the vanilla. In another mixing bowl, mix the flour and baking powder Add the flour and baking powder mix to the eggs and sugar and make smooth batter. Pour the batter into a round baking pane and bake for 15 – 20 min at 380-400 degrees. Do the same for each layer with the only difference for the middle layer, adding a cup of walnut finely chopped in a good processor.

Ingredients for the sugar syrup

• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup of sugar

Instructions

Put the water and sugar in a pot on medium fire and mix until the sugar is fully absorbed by the water. Warm syrup works best.

Ingredients for the cream

• 1 liter of milk
• 2 egg separated into yolks and whites
• 100 ml of cold milk
• 1 cup of sugar
• 8 spoonfuls of flour
• a few drops of vanilla

Instructions

Pour the 1 liter of milk into a pot and put it on medium fire to heat. Add the cup of sugar to the hot milk. Mix regularly so it does not burn on the bottom of the pot. Mix the egg yolks and the 100 ml of cold milk in a mixing bowl. Add the 8 spoonfuls of flour and the vanilla extract. Mix into smooth batter. In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and set aside for the end. Very carefully, start adding the egg yolk / flour batter into the pot with the warm milk and mix energetically so that they mix nicely. Continue mixing until the mix thickens.

At the end, add the beat the egg whites into the mix to make the butter more airy. Turn off the fire. Put each baked cake layer into the baking pan and cover it with sugar syrup and then a think layer of the cream. Repeat for each cake layer and decorate to your heart’s desire on top — I use chopped walnuts for cover and chocolate syrup for the signs. Put aside in a cool space and serve on the next day — that allows for the cake layers to get moist and juicy.

Last but not least, enjoy the cake in the company of your loved ones!