Let her eat cake

My daughter turns 1 this week, so I’m planning what will be the first of many birthday cakes. To make sure I’ve thought of all the possibilities, I asked Cindy Philipp of sweet landmark Philipp’s Bakery (3300 Folsom Boulevard, (916) 455-5535) what goes into her ideal birthday cake:

“Any birthday cake needs inspiration, imagination and a little bit of magic. Kahlúa mousse is my favorite cake, but a childhood cake that I’m now baking and selling in my bakery is strawberry-strawberry buttercream. It’s a childhood cake that my mother did every year for all of us on our birthday. But my most-ordered cake, and the one I eat myself, is my Kahlúa mousse cake—it’s got a little bit of magic stirred up in it.”