My Birthday Cheese Cake 🎂🧀

This year, I celebrated my 32nd birthday in the most me way possible: with a cake that wasn’t a cake at all.

Now, when I say “cheese cake,” I don’t mean the kind you bake with cream cheese, sugar, and a buttery crust. No. This is a cake made entirely out of cheese wheels. No flour, no sugar, no baking. Just pure, indulgent cheese bliss.

Building the dream 🍓

I started with three gorgeous cheese wheels: a big one at the bottom, a medium in the middle, and a smaller one on top. Brie or Camembert both work beautifully for this, with their creamy centers and elegant white rinds.

Between the top and middle layers, I spread a generous amount of my homemade strawberry jam - sweet, slightly tart, and perfect with brie. Between the middle and bottom layer, I added my homemade blueberry jam for a deeper, more luxurious flavor.

Then came the decorations 🍉

And here’s where you can really let your imagination run wild:

I added fresh strawberries and watermelon for a pop of red, juicy apricots for sweetness, shiny green olives for a salty bite, thin slices of Black Forest ham, sweet little cherry tomatoes, and a handful of rice crackers (though any cracker will do).

And just to make it extra dreamy, I drizzled pistachio cream over the top so it glistened like a dessert straight out of a fairytale.

Don't forget to add your candle! 🎂

The sides and the vibe 🍑

The beauty of a cheese cake like this is that you can decorate it with anything you love or serve it with all your favorite sides: from nuts and honey to fig jam, grapes, or even prosciutto. It’s the kind of “cake” that turns into a grazing table, and I love that it brings people together over slow, delicious bites.

The other cakes 🎂

Of course, I couldn’t resist showing off the other cakes I received (and made!) for my birthday.

My parents surprised me with a homemade creation by my mom: a dreamy blend of tiramisu flavors without the cocoa, but with layers of pistachio cream, white chocolate, creamy mascarpone and a hint of lime. It was absolutely divine. I’ll share more about this in my upcoming blog post about my birthday trip to Germany, where I celebrated with them.

One of my best friends brought me the prettiest raspberry cake, decorated with delicate macarons - almost too beautiful to cut into… almost.

And since birthdays are better shared, I also made a cake for a joint celebration with my brother, who turned 28 just nine days after me. I used my favorite Szafi Reform Chocolate Muffin Flour Blend, sliced it into two layers, and filled it with mascarpone mixed with Myprotein Red Superfood blend, which turned the cream into the most gorgeous pink. I added banana slices inside and on top for decoration. Simple, but so, so good.

Turning 32 ✨

This cake wasn’t just about the food. For me, birthdays are always a moment to pause, to look at where I’ve been and where I’m headed.

Turning 32 feels… peaceful. I’m proud of what I’ve built so far - my career, my tiny house, my creative projects, the life I’m shaping one choice at a time. There have been challenges, lessons, and unexpected twists, but there’s also been so much joy.

And as I sliced into my cheese cake, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude - for the memories I’ve made, for the opportunities ahead, and for all the small, beautiful moments in between.

Here’s to more cheese, more joy, and more years to come. 🥂

Tina