If you have a special horse in your life and you want to go big celebrating his or her birthday, consider doing what Marguerite Henry did with her famous pony Misty: bake a horse birthday cake.
In the book A Pictorial Life Story of Misty, there's a gem or a recipe in the margin of Page 50. It's Misty's Oat Cake. Every year Marguerite would host a pony birthday party for Misty, the Chincoteague Pony, and all the neighborhood children would join in the fun. You can read more about the pony birthday parties in my Marguerite Henry biography titled Marguerite, Misty and Me.
Knight, my beautiful off-track Thoroughbred, celebrated his seventeenth birthday April 21, so I decided to follow in the footsteps of my favorite author and bake a cake for a pony! I modified the recipe a bit. Here is a modern take on Misty's Oat Cake.
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Grease and flour a 9 x 13 cake pan.
Mix together:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Mix in:
1 cup uncooked oats (I used Bob's Red Mill Old Fashioned Rolled Oats)
Add:
1/2 cup coconut oil
Beat in:
2 egg yolks
1 cup milk
After everything is well mixed, fold in:
2 beaten egg whites
Bake at 350% for 35-40 minutes. When cake is cool, spread top with molasses and finely chopped almonds.
Top with carrots as candles for the birthday horse or pony! You can amp up the fun by serving it up on a platter with flowers, donning party hats and singing "Happy Birthday." Go wild!
If you want to see photos of the pony birthday parties with Misty of Chincoteague, check out A Pictorial Life Story of Misty as well as the book Dear Readers and Riders by Marguerite Henry. Enjoy the nostalgia!
Uncover the fascinating backstory of Marguerite Henry and explore her special relationship with Misty, by reading my book Marguerite, Misty and Me. I think you'll have a blast. Shop here.
