Ingrid’s birthday was on an away week. We had an extra mini-celebration today, since she’s here now. With Estonian cake! (From the Baltic shop in Sollentuna.)

Did I remember to take photos of the celebration, the presents, or the eating of cake? No, I did not.

Happy early birthday to me! Adrian will be away at scout camp on my actual birthday, so we celebrated today. A summery salad, the traditional redcurrant cake, and board games.

I’m not an expert baker but the cake came out exactly as it should. Even with the additional challenge of trying to bake it in 28-degree heat. The dough went from “so chilled it’s hard to roll out” to “so warm that it melts” before I managed to fully roll it out. I ended up pressing it in place with my fingers, and then putting it in the fridge again to keep it from melting before it could be baked.

The cake rose like a souffle in the oven, above the edges of the cake tin, but sank down within its walls again as it cooled.

Today was not my mum’s birthday, but we celebrated anyway. The kids are both very used to having birthday parties on some random day, chosen for reasons of practicality rather than calendrical accuracy. My mum is not quite as convinced that this is an acceptable way of doing things, but didn’t object to being offered dinner and cake.

For the cake part of things, Ingrid made and decorated macarons.

Raspberry and dark chocolate macarons, using freeze-dried raspberries both in the macarons and for decorations. Much less messy than fresh or puréed raspberries, very clever.

A somewhat delayed eighteenth-birthday dinner for Ingrid, at Berns Asiatiska, by her request. Her boyfriend Albin also joined us, for the first time.

Berns Asiatiska was Stockholm’s first Chinese restaurant back in the 1940s, and it still has and old-school luxurious interior, reminding of days gone by, with crystal chandeliers and wood panelling. Very festive.

The sound level was very modern, though, actually making it difficult to talk to people across the table. We all kept having to ask each other to repeat our words. So there was more focus on the food and less on the conversation.

Ingrid, of course, ordered sushi. So did Eric and I.

She chose Berns because they serve not only excellent sushi but also excellent Asian fusion dishes for those who aren’t fond of seafood. (Like Adrian and Albin.) Adrian had a giant serving of tonkatsu, while Albin had Korean barbecue chicken. Both were happy with their dishes.

My dessert was a bit of a disappointment. Titled “Cherry and lime”, it led me to expect an explosion of flavours. But the cherry sorbet(?) barely tasted of cherry, and the fluffy, creamy lime was also very delicate in flavour. Not bad, per se, but after eating sushi with wasabi and soy sauce, this felt very tame.

Ready for Ingrid’s eighteenth birthday festive brunch. Ingrid did all the creative work yesterday – baking and decorating the cake, making the panna cotta, preparing the filling for the devilled eggs. All that was left for this morning was plating and such, plus some slicing of veggie sticks and cheeses.

Devilled eggs is one of her favourite party foods, and now she wants to introduce her friends to the concept. Several of them are generally sceptical about new foods, but the bacon on top of these should convince them.

Fresh fruit, to go with yoghurt and granola, for those who want a lighter meal.

Crostini with burrata, a lemon and olive oil drizzle, and raspberries.

Panna cotta with raspberry jam and a mint sprig.

And now everything is ready for the guests, and it’s time for the parents to make themselves scarce. Ingrid herself was perfectly fine with having us here for the duration, but we all agreed that her friends wouldn’t feel as comfortable with us in the house.

We had Ingrid’s actual eighteenth birthday, and the party for the extended family. Now it’s time for her party with her friends. This one will be a festive brunch, tomorrow.

This is not the first fancy meal that Ingrid invites her friends to, but it will be on a different level. She has been collecting ideas, and then tableware and decorations, for months. The theme for the decorations is sort of romantic in pink and light green, with flower-patterned vintage plates and champagne flutes and candlesticks and slender, elegant vases.

Yesterday, after she finalized the menu, we went shopping for groceries and flowers. Then we cleared most other furniture out of the living/dining room, so that Ingrid could decorate the room and set the table. Ingrid has no school on Fridays this year, so she planned for a full day of baking and food prep today.

I hope her friends have the sense to appreciate the effort that’s going into this!

Ingrid turns eighteen today.

She is technically an adult now. She can vote now, get married, take any job, get a driver’s license, order alcohol at a bar, and more. When that felt overwhelming, I reminded her that she is still only just one day older than yesterday. She’s allowed to be a teenager still.

The party preparations started several days ago, with three cakes baked over three days. We had an apple-pie cheesecake (Ingrid), a banana and chocolate cake (Adrian) and an almond cherry pie (Eric).

Today Ingrid decorated the house with golden balloons and serpentines.

Then there were guests – grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins – and presents.

The cakes and cheeses and snacks were eaten with much joy and appreciation.

There had been some concern that three cakes might be excessive, but it really wasn’t.

With no one to take pictures of me, here are two quick selfies to prove that I was also there.

Afterwards, we were tired.

Prepping for tomorrow’s celebration with our extended families of Ingrid’s and Adrian’s birthdays.

The children can barely be called children any more, and the guests are getting older. Cake is still an important part of a birthday party, but there’s more and more interest for less sugary snacks. Hence, a cheese platter or two. I’m splurging and buying the cheeses at an actual cheesemonger’s in Hötorgshallen, rather than just supermarket cheese.