Since Max, the eldest grandchild at 14, celebrated his first birthday, it has been my responsibility and pleasure to make a cake. My cakes never go up. I don’t build towers or upright characters or anything taller than a flat cake. My cakes are shape cakes that can entail some pretty complex cutting and lots of icing. Icing saves everything.

The first birthday of each of the five grandchildren has been a carousel cake, often fitted out with fantastic wild animals gathered from some trip to an exotic location. Just a simple, round layer cake, sometimes with a pudding filling, sometimes fruit with the animals placed around the edge of the top of the cake. Once, one of the animals was facing the opposite direction, out of sync with the circle, so his better side was on the inside. The beauty of those cakes was that the birthday child got to keep all those animals and, eat the icing that stuck!

Subsequent cakes have represented favorite toys, characters or passions. When they reach the age of choice, they make specific requests. Once they reach the “decade” years, the goal becomes one of “how can I stump Grandma” ideas. Rarely does a cake come together without some angst. Frequently, there is not enough icing. How do I make the wings? How do I make red food coloring make red icing instead of pink. What will make a good Elmo nose? What does that child have in mind? OMG, I forgot to take the cake out of the pan and it’s stuck.

Have you ever thought of a pop-eyed catalufa cake? That was the request of two-year-old Gavin who was a frequenter of the Aquarium and knew all the proper names of the fish, unlike me who would point out that pretty orange fish. After the first visit, I always picked up the fish guide so I was better informed.

A red fire engine makes a great cake for the 3ish set. A pink fire engine will not do but that’s what one gets with the red food coloring. The icing keeps getting thinner and thinner but will never turn red. Luck was with me that year as the birthday was near Christmas so there were plenty of red sugar crystals. This was, by far, the sweetest cake ever made.

Alligators are great subjects. Just the head with a wide open mouth. But what about the teeth? Easy. Uppers and lowers, rows of candy corn. Bright green icing. Alligator.

Elmo benefitted from the red sugar knowledge but his most dramatic feature is that giant nose. A circle of cake? A cupcake with orange icing? Ah, a ripe apricot and the little one screamed, “Elmo,” as soon as she saw the cake. Success.

Dora made an appearance with her dark hair in bangs. Zoe’s request. Zoe, who looked a lot like Dora at that age. Everyone at the party thought it was a Zoe cake. Zoe thought it was a Dora cake and that is all that mattered.

Max has always pushed the envelope with imaginary jewel-winged creatures (it’s not like my imagination—but I like it), Peek-a-Poohs, those little animals within an animal, a figure with a naked mole rat in his pocket, and the Swiss Army knife with, of course, all the attachments and that diabolical red!

It’s a long list: violin, candy bars, the Eiffel Tower, growing gardens, sunflowers with mango petals. No request refused, no cake uneaten or unloved.

Now I am on that cake #54. The request is for a fairy cake. Surprisingly, what with three girls in the family, this is a first and would seem to be a small challenge. Not so. Wings, wands, arms, legs, way too much detail for a simple square plus round layer and the small challenge looms large. There is always a solution and this one is to make the fairy a candy fairy. Forget cutting the cake to make the wings, the wings will be icing on the serving board. Just swipe with a finger for an extra sweet morsel. Finish off the dress with Gummy Bears and small Sweet Tarts, cotton candy for hair, legs of fruit roll-ups and a candy-swirl all-day sucker with a Trader Joe’s star cookie on top for a wand. Candy Fairy extraordinaire. Guaranteed sugar crush, sugar crash, but what a cake. It was the proverbial platter licked clean. Challenge met. Everyone is happy.

Cake #55 coming up. Candy Fairy a tough act to follow.