Eat, Drink and Do: Lush birthday cakes, espresso classes and more

It’s my birthday and I’ll party in Philly if I want to! A heart-shaped birthday cake, an espresso class in Bella Vista and a Christmas concert at the Verizon Hall are how I’m treating myself to celebrate another year older — and hopefully wiser. This week, I’m cutting a slice of New June Bakery creations, learning all about espresso at Function Coffee Labs and enjoying The Muppet Christmas Carol in Concert.

Imagine blowing out birthday candles placed on a whimsical, lush heart-shaped cake decorated with colorful ribbon piping or a tiered layered floral cake complete with pressed flowers. Noelle Blizzard will make all your birthday cake dreams come true while serving creamy, rich flavors with each bite. Savor the sour cream olive oil cake with mascarpone whipped cream, raspberry cardamom and salty vanilla bean Swiss buttercream or the ultra moist buttermilk chocolate devils food cake with a salty sweet French chocolate buttercream and Valrhona dark chocolate crunch. No matter the flavor or design you choose, the Philadelphia cottage bakery and cake studio whips up a fantastical birthday treat for you.

Enjoy Blizzard’s holiday cookie and cake sample box for $60 — it comes with five slices of cake and 8 to 10 cookies. Order online and pick up on Dec. 23 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

You can also donate $5 to Sharing Excess, a food rescue nonprofit, via @noelleblizzard on Venmo by Dec. 20 to win the tiered cake raffle, which gifts a micro tiered cake for 16 people with custom decor (fresh flowers, painted abstract vintage piping and more), valued at up to $170. Winner will be announced on Dec. 21.

All orders, from cakes (starting at $80) to cakelettes (starting at $68), are scheduled custom pre-orders that can be placed with the online form or via email. Order pick-ups are in Fairmount.

📍2830 Polar St., 🌐 new-june.com, 📷 @newjunebakery

Play barista for 90 minutes at Function Coffee Labs. Come behind the bar and learn about espresso extraction, milk steaming, milk texturing, and pouring latte art. Cafe manager Curtis Patey guides you in a private espresso class at the coffee shop neighboring the Italian Market. Classes can be scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday or 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. (During the holidays, the cafe is only doing two classes per week.) For an hour and a half to two hours, you and a friend can become an espresso expert. It’s $105 per hour for up to two people (not $105 per person). If you want to host a larger party, it’s an additional $25. Schedule your class via email.

📍 1001 S 10th St., 📞 267-606-6734, 🌐 functioncoffeelabs.com, 📷 functioncoffeelabs

Watch as Charles Dickens’ classic story comes to life on Saturday and Sunday at the Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center. Kermit and the Muppet gang help Ebenezer Scrooge find his spirit on Christmas Eve in a presentation of the complete film directed by Brian Henson as the Philadelphia Orchestra performs the film’s entire score with conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos at the helm. Miles Goodman scored the original, with songs by Paul Williams. The show is an hour and 45 minutes, starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets start at $39 and can be purchased online.

📍300 South Broad St., 🌐 kimmelculturalcampus.org