For as long I can remember, my June birthday has been celebrated with an angel food cake. It began with Joan, a lady who lived down the road who would come by every year on the anniversary of my birth with a tin cake caddy. When she lifted the top, she revealed angel food cake to celebrate my arrival in the neighborhood.

The wild strawberries also arrived around this time and paired so perfectly with this sweet cloud of a birthday cake. I delighted in the treasure hunt through the lawn and field to find these red rubies. The quest could consume hours. I can recall the joy of finding “a big one” or one that was especially sweet tasting.

Wild strawberry season felt fleeting, starting around my birthday and going through Father’s Day. I would spend all afternoon picking enough to make a shortcake for my dad. As a child, the gift of the strawberry given to me by the plant, sun, rain and soil allowed me, in turn, to  give a gift to someone I loved without needing to buy anything.

Robin Wall Kimmerer has an excellent chapter in her book Braiding Sweetgrass called “The Gift of Strawberries.” The wild strawberry, unlike a store-bought strawberry, is a gift and with that comes relationship, reciprocity and responsibility. I encourage you to read more of her writings on the gift economy in contrast with our current economic system of wages, purchases, property and rights. When I examine these in light of my faith and ecological values, it is clear to me that actively choosing to move through the world with a gift mindset aligns best. 

Back to the birthday cake, though. I learned recently that angel food cake is a funeral cake in some cultures and wedding cake in others. In The Essential Amish Cookbook, Lovina Eicher’s angel food cake recipe is found in the “Amish wedding meals” section. Celebrations of life and celebrations of love seem to invoke angels symbolically in the cake.

Perhaps it earned its name from being so light and airy that it could be considered angel’s food and that its golden crust resembling a halo. Interestingly, we also have on the other end of the spectrum a devil’s food cake, a dark, dense chocolate cake. 

I haven’t come across a culture where angel cake is the go-to birthday cake; however, it seems like another celebratory time fit for angels to make an appearance. I’m glad for the gift of a family tradition specific to my birthday that celebrates with an angel cake adorned with wild strawberries. It brings me joy to think about angels rejoicing the day of my birth and that God has put a protective hedge of angels around me.

This year, blowing out the birthday candles held by wooden angel candle holders, I wish to deepen my engagement with the world around me, and my own being, as a gift given by God. My birthday cake is a taste of just how sweet that can be!

Triple Berry Compote

This simple fruit sauce cooks quickly and is my go-to summer sweet treat. You can use a medley of berries or a single type. I have it along with angel cake for my birthday.

• 1 pound (about 4 cups) fresh or frozen strawberries, blueberries and raspberries
• 2 tablespoons sweetener of choice, such as maple syrup, honey or sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Bring the berries and sweetener to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Stir in lemon juice, which adds brightness. Add extra sweetener to taste, if desired.

Enjoy by the bowlful or served over ice cream, yogurt, waffles, french toast, oatmeal, granola, cake, cheesecake . . .  There are so many delicious ways to use this single recipe.