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I’ve officially been with my husband for half his life. He turned 30-years-old this week. Even though I wanted to, I couldn’t get my shit together to plan him a big party (please cut me some slack; I just started a new job I’m trying to wrap my head around). But I did manage to surprise him with 30 balloons I snuck into the basement.

To celebrate, I made him tiramisu. Last year was a funfetti cake, but this year he’s a real adult. Tiramisu is delightfully complex and tasteful — perfect for a 30th birthday. It’s got fancy Italian things in it like “savoiardi” and “zabaglione.” And you can eat spoonfuls of it out of the fridge late at night.

I followed Pioneer Woman’s recipe. She never lets me down. It’s a long process. It practically took all day. First you’ve got to make this crazy yellow sauce called zabaglione. It’s a mixture of egg yolks, sugar, and marsala wine. It smells divine. You have to wait for it to cool.

Then you make fresh whipped cream and mix it with mascarpone cheese and the zabaglione sauce. That mixture chills in the fridge for 1-2 hours until it becomes this heavenly cream you layer between savoiardi (aka ladyfingers) soaked in coffee, marsala wine, and vanilla extract, dusted with cocoa powder. I zested a fine dark chocolate bar between the layers, too. AND THEN, the whole thing has to refrigerate for a few more hours before all the ingredients bond together to become one tasty dessert.

It took all day, but Eric was totally worth it. He’s such a thoughtful husband and a really fun dad. Every night, he gives Leigh a bottle and rocks him to sleep. Our son adores him. Dada is simply amazing.

Happy birthday, babe. You deserve all the tiramisu!