A Lambeth-style cake wrapped in bows and love.
My friend Roelien just had her fifth baby — a little girl, after a girl and three boys. A true bookend baby, and the most peaceful little bundle you could imagine. I got to go meet her last week, and she’s perfect. There’s something so tender about a new baby when you’ve already walked the parenting road a few times.
A few weeks before Esme arrived, we celebrated with a shower at Southern Baking Co. in Spring Hill. It’s a homey old house-turned-bakery with accent walls in bold colors and a few modern touches scattered here and there.
Roelien is South African like me, married to an American, and the mix of cultures that day felt easy. The shower was simple and thoughtful, full of pink-bow details, little bites from both sides of the ocean, and laughter that carried easily through the rooms.
Although she knew about the shower, it was so sweet to see her surprise when she walked in. She had tears in her eyes and a hand to her mouth, saying, “I never thought I’d ever have a shower this beautiful.” That’s Roelien: humble and down to earth.
I made a pink Lambeth-style cake for the day — buttercream bows piped around the sides, soft and a little nostalgic, in her favorite passion fruit flavor. Fun fact: the very first custom cake I ever made for an event was one of her baby showers years ago, for her third baby. I still have the photo. So setting this new pink cake on the table felt like a little full circle moment for me and our friendship.
It’s been years of babies and birthdays between our families, with plenty of ordinary life tucked in too. It’s one of the things I I love most about this hobby of mine — how it helps tie those moments together and allow me to serve those closest to me (pun intended!). Sometimes it isn’t about the cake at all! It’s about those friendships that last and the way families blend across oceans. What a sweet reminder of God’s love. He always has a way of bringing everything together just so.
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