b.i.r.t.h.f.d.a.y.c.a.k.e by Emily P. '28

Two of my lovely friends, Tina and Brandon, have the same birthday: October 5th. It’s always a fabulous time; I say time and not day because we don’t always celebrate it on the 5th, but we have celebrated it in some way or another for the past 3 years. This year, Hannah and I were tasked with the weighty responsibility of baking the cake for a little gathering they planned to host at Tina’s apartment.

As two Mince members,⁠01 obligatory Mince mention we wanted the cake to be yummy, beautiful, and just straight-up awesome. How hard can that be? Or rather, how long could that possibly take?

Hannah and I requesting cake flavor preferences

wednesday afternoon / night

Tuesday night, Hannah and I had browsed a bunch of cake recipes and had a shopping list in mind. A very small shopping list, because I, with an abysmal amount of confidence, said, “Yeah, I have like, almost everything.” And so we saunter off to the Whole Foods in Central Square to purchase a can of very much overpriced Dutch processed cocoa powder, some 70% dark chocolate bars, and a bottle of molasses.⁠02 Adam Ragusea (another obligatory mention) has a whole thing about not buying brown sugar because brown sugar is just white sugar plus molasses and brown sugar <i>always</i> clumps up so you’re better off buying white sugar and adding molasses whenever you need brown sugar Because that’s all we need. Because I already have everything else. 

Afterwards, we make our way over to the basement of Walker Memorial because Hannah, along with Carter and birthday girl Tina, have a radio show together! Called Codependent, they’ve been on air every semester since freshman fall (it was started with Linda, another really close friend of ours). And despite being friends with many-a-WMBR members, it was my first time down in the station.

I’m struggling to articulate the awesome vibe you get when you’re down there – it’s one of those spaces you have to be physically present in to get it. The incredible record library, the slightly musty but cozy basement yellow lighting, the studios packed with cool and old looking hardware, the funky experimental tracks on air you can’t help but Shazam… point is, you should go listen to WMBR @ 88.1FM!

We trek back to Burton Conner after the show; it’s finally time to bake some cake. Hannah starts the cherry compote while I continue to mull over which chocolate cake recipe to follow. As I’m eyeing the different ingredients lists, it dawns on me that, uh oh, I don’t have enough eggs. Uh oh x2, I don’t have any coffee or espresso either!

Luckily, B1 has an “items-request” text channel:

ignore my username.

And so I run off to the 141, where Emma asks the dreaded question, “how many eggs do you need?” Hannah and I had decided on this serious eats recipe by Stella Parks, and because it churns out three 8” round cakes, it calls for a grand total of 9 eggs. I happened to only have 2.

“Could I get 7 eggs?” Yeah, no, that’s kind of a ridiculous ask. But as it just so happens, John, who’s another fellow Mince member, is also in the suite, listening in on my crazy request. We make eye contact. Woah. Flashbacks to New House Country Kitchen, fridge closest to the entrance, where there’s just a whole door rack filled with eggs.⁠03 from a recent Mince pop-up. I was not stealing some unlucky New House resident’s eggs!

“John, are there still eggs in New House?” John is thinking the exact same thing. John is awesome. “Yeah, there’s so many. I can go grab some?” I thank John profusely (but his kindness can not possibly be repaid in words) and run back to my suite to finally start working on the cakes.

John delivers not 9, but 10 whole ass eggs. Just in case there was a bad egg in there!

Whilst I’m chopping the chocolate, Ronnie⁠04 that’s Veronica P. '27 for those who don't know runs out of her room and out the suite, yelling something about “TV lounge” and “pastries.” Oh shit! I also book it out of the suite and down the side stairwell, listening to the booming thumps of other like-minded students sprinting down the stairs from above. The door swings open to heaven, pretty much:

Japonaise bakery pastry spread

Carolina, a grad student and friend of floor, is also friends with the owner of Japonaise Bakery in Brookline. Pastries that are past their prime and would normally be thrown away are donated to food shelters, or, if they’re really scuffed, brought to the perpetually pastry-hungry residents of Burton Conner. And so about once a week, Carolina pulls up to Burton Conner with a giant sack of treats⁠05 she’s kind of like Santa Claus now that I think about it, and Christmas is every Tuesday like 9pm ish. in her car. A bc-talk email is sent out, and a stampede ensues.

I shove a scrumptious chikuwa pan in my mouth and hurry back to the cake baking. This Stella Parks recipe was particularly fun, as everything gets mixed in one giant pot and it’s kind of witchy in that way. She even includes how much batter by weight goes into each pan.⁠06 this is the level of precision instructional writing I aspire for Once divided evenly, the cakes went into the oven at 350° for about 30 minutes.

butter in very witchy large pot

hannah chops chocolate

cakes bout to bake

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Now, Hannah and I mull over the rest of the cake. The compote had reduced quite a bit, to the point where it looked like I would have to buy more cherries the next day. Furthermore, we envisioned the final cake to be this intense, slate-colored, smooth, minimalistic cylinder with broody deep-purple / almost-black flowers to match. Issue is, we initially planned to frost it with whipped ganache, which would definitely give us the color we wanted. Oh, and also, we have no heavy whipping cream, which is one of two ganache ingredients.

… “Yeah, I have like, almost everything.”

Long story short, John comes to the rescue once again, and Joanne⁠07 another Mince member, who was also head chef of last year's cake picnic!! assists in making this incredible chocolate buttercream, featuring another Stella Parks recipe.

the yummiest chocolate buttercream, ft. Joanne

leveled cake

Hannah patches up a giant hole, whoops

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We finish the core components around 1:30 am. Hannah and I stay up to chat just a little longer, despite both having gotten minimal schoolwork done and needing to wake up early the next morning. Neither of us seem that stressed. We’re content, even.

thursday afternoon / night

We frost the cake with the much appreciated assistance / supervision of Joanne.

cleaning up cardboard base

The ‘party’ was scheduled for 8:30, and given we still needed to buy flowers, we hurried over around 7:30. It was my first time at Tina’s apartment this year, and it was so cozy! After we dropped off the cake, we walked to Fern, picked out the aforementioned broody deep-purple / almost-black flowers, and stopped by Whole Foods (again…) for candles.

… “Yeah, I have like, almost everything.”

giant freaking cake, old ah elevator

oh my god Tina and Brandon!!!!

gorgeous flowers at Fern

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By the time we make it back to the apartment, the rest of the guests have arrived. Many are friends we made from all the way back during CPW or REX. Others are newer friends, met through classes, living communities, or just acquainted with time and a shared special something. I get a chance to exchange hugs and conversation after a summer apart.

As I’m standing there in the kitchen, I think back to this one balmy Californian afternoon, that summer before college. I’m on Solana Beach with my older cousin and his friends, my hair tangled and salty from some prior boogie-boarding. Everyone’s brought bites — homemade shrimp and crawfish ceviche, watermelon chunks, strawberry matcha cookies. They’re all 2 or so years out of college at this point. I’m freshly 18, and I feel so young.

“Do you guys have any advice for college?” I ask. I explain things I’m nervous and scared about: academics, academics, time management, academics, oh, and making friends, probably. 

The details of what they said are now hazy. General reassurance of college being how difficult you want to make it for yourself, how the newfound freedom of being away from home is, well, freeing. I do, however, distinctly remember my cousin saying something about friends. Something about how it’s the people you surround yourself with that makes the experience. 

new and old friends

And yeah, it’s a cliché, it’s been said before, but I think it’s becoming easier to forget. I’m terrified of what seems to be the impending future of extreme individualistic thinking; where friendships and communities morph into avenues for networking or opportunities to get a foot in the door rather than being meaningful relationships built on something beyond the self. Where everything is a zero-sum game, and time spent on something that can’t be slapped on resumes or be counted as hours isn’t time worth spending. Where life is min-maxed, optimized.

The 6 hours Hannah and I spent on this cake and the additional hours spent with my friends at Tina’s are what come to mind first when I think about last week. How fun it was, how grateful I am that all of us got to spend so much time together. How, beyond the people gathered at the apartment, so many others played a role in this cake experience: WMBR, B1, Mince, etc.

And as I’m standing in that kitchen, I’m also grateful to my cousin and what he said to me that day, about friendship and life and stuff. It’s not a mantra I chant in my head or anything, but I think I did somewhat subconsciously internalize the sentiment and have spent my time at MIT guided by it.

It’s cake time. We take it out of the fridge, and Hannah and Joanne add the calla lilies. Pictures are taken, candles are placed and lit, and the birthday song is sung. Cake is eaten. And not to pat ourselves on the back or anything, but I think it turned out yummy, beautiful, and straight-up awesome!

tinabrandoncake

oh yum

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tinabrandon’s dark chocolate cherry cake

cherry compote

1. Dump frozen (or fresh!) pitted cherries, 12-16 oz in sauce pan. Mash slightly to draw out juices. Bring to a simmer.
2. Reduce until cherry flavor concentrates.
3. Add sugar and lemon juice to taste. 
4. (optional) Slightly blend / immersion blend for a blood-clotty texture, if desired.

mmmmm, blood clots…

dark chocolate cake

1. Follow this recipe.
2. (optional)  Chill cake overnight for a slightly denser texture (the fresh cakes are awesome but might not hold up against heavy decorating / layering)

assembly

1. Add a dollop of buttercream to cardboard base. Lay down first cake layer. 
2. Pipe a thick border of buttercream on the edge of the cake, and use a spatula or knife to seal the inside.
   

   sealing inside of buttercream wall

3. Fill the buttercream well with cherry compote. 
4. Add next cake layer
5. Repeat steps 2-4. 
6. Patch gaps between cake layers with more buttercream for a straight wall around, if needed. Crumb coat and set cake in fridge / freezer to set.
7. Color remaining buttercream. We ended up just using a lot of black oil-based food dye + immersion blending to deflate the buttercream and make it look darker.
8. Frost the cake!
9. (optional) Beddazzle cake with flowers and cherries.