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A discussion forum, archived from 2011. Subject line: “Cravings are weird – Kinuski kakku?” A pregnant woman in Tampere was desperately trying to recreate her mummon recipe. The thread was a dead end. The recipe was “a pinch of this, a handful of that.” No one had written it down. A subsequent comment, from a user named Leena67 , read: “I’ve lost mine too. The secret is to let the butter and sugar caramelize until it smells like autumn bonfires. Then you add the cream very slowly.” Elina’s finger hovered over the reply button, but the thread was closed. Leena67. Could it be? No. Her mother was born in 1953. Not 1967. Just a coincidence. A cruel one.

A listing for a vintage “Pyurex” 24cm springform pan. The metal was scuffed, the base slightly warped. The seller’s note: “Perfect for heavy, dense cakes. My mum used this for her toffee cake.” Elina’s breath caught. No recipe. Just the pan. She imagined her own mother’s pan, long since donated or thrown away. She could almost see Leena’s flour-dusted hands undoing the clasp, releasing the warm, fragrant cake onto a wire rack.

The results bloomed like a strange garden.