Celebrate a birthday – or any special occasion – with a different kind of cake.
Not everyone loves birthday cake. Is that blasphemous?
For one of my kids, I try to come up with a different kind of “cake” for her birthday. Something she’ll really enjoy instead of just doing the cliched frosted cake. One year it was a sushi cake, and one year it was a riff on a “vilde nosherei” from Shmaltz in Ramat Eshkol (a platter of fries loaded with all the goodies).
This year I came across the concept of a watermelon and feta cake and decided it was perfect. Watermelon and feta – with a splash of lime juice and a sprinkling of chili lime seasoning – is one of our favorite snacks. So why not elevate it to birthday cake status?
The hardest part of making this cake is choosing a watermelon that’s the right shape – and also has the right texture inside. If it has too many cracks and crevices, it won’t work. Decide what shape you want your cake to be before choosing your watermelon. A round cake will need a round watermelon but a rectangular cake like we made here will need a longer watermelon.
You’ll start by cutting the rind off the whole watermelon like we do here.
Then cut off as little as possible while creating the brick shape of the final cake. (Don’t worry – you can snack on the scraps as you’re working.)
Once you have a nice shape, you’ll need to cut thin layers –
but be careful not to make them too thin or they’ll crack.
Then simply layer
watermelon
and crumbled feta.
You can top with honey,
sprinkle some nuts, mint leaves, microgreens, lime slices –
decorate it creatively just as you would a traditional cake. Don’t forget the candles!
Note: if you want to prepare it in advance, you can prep the components but don’t assemble the layers until right before serving.
It will get soggy and waterlogged over time.
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