Poor boy, whose birthday falls on Thanksgiving every few years. His cake this year was from an apple-spice cake recipe that I found in the November issue of Real Simple. Someday he'll be old enough to know that doesn't count and we'll be eating chocolate cake after our turkey dinner, but he's only two right now.

Warm, then topped with ice cream and drizzled with apple saba I bought at Zingerman's, the spice cake was a very grown-up treat with a deep, musky apple flavor. The saba reminded me of an aged balsamic, thick and syrupy with sweetness and bite. I've been looking for a good ways to use it, and this was it. It's amazing how a little condiment can elevate something as simple as spice cake and ice cream.

August ate the ice cream and pecked at the spice cake, then ran off with his two little friends for a raucous race around the apartment.