My soon-to-be 5-year-old, is my soon-to-be 5-year-old. By that I mean that part of me is so proud of him, in awe of how much I can love one person, mystified by how he went from 7 pounds to 41.2. The other part of me endures a dull throb in my throat every time he smiles — knowing that bitter sweetness will never go away.

Beyond the intricate emotional maze of parenthood, however, I have more practical issues: The kid needs a birthday cake.

I asked him what he wants and he said a “brownie cake.” At first, I figured he meant a pan of brownies. This gave me the willies because I’ve never made a decent pan of brownies in my life.

That issue became moot, however, when I remembered that he calls Brown Sugar Pop Tarts “brownies.” But that doesn’t help much, because I don’t know how to make a cake out of Pop Tarts, either.

So I looked around for a cake recipe that calls for brown sugar. I found a coffeecake recipe that might work. And here’s one for brown sugar frosting.

If you have a good one, feel free to share. Just e-mail it to jennie.geisler@timesnews.com.

I’m hoping all that sugar will ease that throb in my throat, at least for a few minutes.