Dear Miss d'Arcy: My daughter's birthday is coming soon and I would like to make her a special birthday cake. Can you help me? TS, Devonshire.

Dear TS: I have created a recipe for your daughter so that she can have her very own birthday cake. I hope she enjoys it.

MARISSA'S BIRTHDAY CAKE 1 gallon favourite ice cream, softened 6 chocolate-covered cherries 6 large chocolate chip cookies 4 egg whites 1 cup sugar SPRAY six custard cups with vegetable oil spray. Pack ice cream in each cup about 3 full. Insert one chocolate-covered cherry in the middle of each cup and push down. Put cups in the freezer until hard. Meanwhile, beat egg whites with sugar until they stand in peaks. Remove ice cream from custard cups by wrapping a warm cloth around each cup and invert on a cookie. Cover ice cream with egg white swirls, making sure the ice cream is completely covered and sealed to the cookie. Put "cakes'' on a cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees F. until egg whites are golden brown. Remove from oven and serve immediately with a lit candle in each one.

Dear Miss d'Arcy: I love chocolate and can't get enough of it. Can you tell me the history of chocolate and where it came from, and give me a couple of chocolate recipes? MC, Smith's Dear MC: The Aztecs (Mexican Indians) were probably the first to turn cocoa beans into a drink. They roasted the beans, ground them with vanilla beans and spices, made them into a paste and patted them into cakes. Crumbled and whisked with a wooden whisk in water the "chocolate'' made a fancy and soothing beverage. The first beans may have been brought to Europe by Columbus, but it wasn't until much later that chocolate was sold in shops.

Studies claim that compounds found in chocolate stimulate the brain and mimic the euphoric feeling of being in love. Chocolate will keep well over a year if stored properly. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap then foil. Keep in the refrigerator. If chocolate is improperly stored, a greyish discolouration known as "bloom'' occurs when temperature extremes causes the cocoa butter to rise to the surface. This bloom, though not pretty, doesn't effect the taste of the chocolate. Here are two favourites: CHOCOLATE NUT BROWNIES 4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate 3 cup margarine (not soft or spread) 2 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla 1 cup flour 1 1 cups chopped nuts MELT chocolate and margarine in a pot over low heat. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Remove from heat. In same pot, stir in sugar until well blended. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts until blended. Spread in greased 13''x9'' baking pan. Bake 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, or until done. Do not overbake.

Dear Miss d'Arcy: Please give me a couple of things my eight and 12 year-old can make without making to much of a mess in the kitchen? I would like them to learn to do things for themselves. -- AD, Hamilton.

Dear AD: It is always good to start a child off in the kitchen by letting him or her help you prepare something, perhaps a favourite dish. This will give them the desire to be in the kitchen. Here are a couple of things you can have your children prepare, and perhaps your husband too. These recipes use a microwave, so instruct your children not to put the microwave on without something in the oven or it will ruin the microwave tube.

MICROWAVE PIZZA 2 whole English muffins 2 cup bottled spaghetti sauce 1 cup shredded cheese SPLIT muffins, spread each half with spaghetti sauce and sprinkle with cheese.

Put all four halves on a large plate and microwave for 2 minutes or until cheese melts.

MEXICAN PIGS AND MOOS 4 hot dogs 4 hot dog buns 1 cup spicy cheese, shredded Lettuce, chopped 1 cup tomato, chopped Mexican salsa SPRINKLE shredded cheese on the four hot dog buns. Place one hot dog in each bun. Wrap each bun in plastic wrap and place on a large plate in the microwave oven. Cook for 3 minutes on medium heat. Carefully unwrap each hot dog and top with chopped lettuce, tomato and salsa.

MICROWAVE S'MORES 4 double graham crackers 4 large marshmallows OR 4 tbsp. mini marshmallows 2 plain chocolate bars, small size BREAK crackers in half. On each half put one large marshmallow or 1 tbsp. of mini marshmallows. Top with half a chocolate bar. Put remaining halves on top of the chocolate. Put on a large glass plate in microwave oven and bake for 4 minutes on medium heat until chocolate and marshmallows are melted.

Readers are invited to submit written questions to Miss d'Arcy, c/o The Royal Gazette, Box HM 1025, Hamilton HMDX, or deliver them to the receptionist at the newspaper's Par-la-Ville Road office in Hamilton between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.