• funfetti cake

    funfetti cake

    british english is so much better than american english.*  especially the insults. i’d much rather call someone a tosser or a prat than an idiot or a dumbass. i’d also like to start saying “cheers” in place of “thank you.” apparently brits call sprinkles “hundreds and thousands”?? that’s cool. it’s sort of a mouthful but it…

  • lavender dream cake

    lavender dream cake

    i made this cake in honor of claude debussy! two days ago would’ve been his 154th birthday. debussy is amazing. his work is breathtakingly beautiful, and his nontraditional use of dissonances and intervals sculpted music’s impressionist era and hugely popularized chromaticism. not only was debussy an incredible musician but he was also extremely eloquent. this is an excerpt…

  • yellow cake with chocolate fudge frosting

    yellow cake with chocolate fudge frosting

    a few years ago, everyone became obsessed with red velvet cake. ben & jerry’s came out with a red velvet ice cream, oreos released red velvet cookies, and pop tarts invented a red velvet toaster pastry. in recent months, the red velvet craze has died down and been replaced by a new flavor: birthday cake. birthday…

  • neopolitan cake

    neopolitan cake

    i like some artificial fruit flavorings – banana laffy taffys, sour apple lollipops, and blue raspberry slushies are all delicious – but i have a strong aversion to anything made to taste like strawberry. that goes for strawberry milk, strawberry jelly beans, and store-bought strawberry ice cream. the quarts of neopolitan ice cream with chocolate, vanilla,…

  • doughboys cake

    doughboys cake

    i’ve spent the past month working my way through the sixty odd episodes of doughboys, a podcast in which the two hosts (mike mitchell and nick wiger) critique chain restaurants. it’s incredible. they are the pete wells of the fast food world. each episode features a guest and a restaurant, and consists of an hour and…

  • gingerbread corgi cookies

    gingerbread corgi cookies

    i’m so excited for the olympics. do you remember the insane opening ceremony in london four years ago? it involved the queen of england jumping out of a helicopter with daniel craig (non-believers say it was a stunt double. it was definitely her). these spiced, iced gingerbread cookies would be just lovely with a steaming hot cup of tea.…

  • blueberry cake with liquid cheesecake and graham crumble

    blueberry cake with liquid cheesecake and graham crumble

    the cheesecake factory has a massive tome of a menu, filled with a huge number of appetizers, entrées, and desserts. “over 250 dishes,” it reads, “made fresh every day.” WHAT? HOW? OVER 250? WHAT DOES “FRESH” MEAN THEN? you can walk into any of the restaurant’s 185 locations and order filet mignon, or an egg roll, or a mac n…

  • gingerbread farm

    gingerbread farm

    while stuck in the sweltering reality of durham’s 98 degree heat, i’ve found myself entertaining reveries of winter days spent in minnesota – what i would give to be taking a long walk through freshly fallen snow, or climbing up the first few icy rungs of a grain silo’s ladder! i’ve built a little fantasy farm with gingerbread…

  • rosemary victorian sponge cake

    rosemary victorian sponge cake

    i don’t mean to brag, but i think it’s safe to say that i was the tooth fairy’s favorite little kid. our relationship went waaaay past the conventional money-for-tooth exchange. she left notes under my pillow every  night, regardless of whether i’d lost a tooth. sometimes the notes were even accompanied by small gifts: a thimble,…

  • human brain cake

    human brain cake

    throughout most of middle school, i was set on pursuing a career in neurology. this was not because of a love for science or the medical field; rather, it was a result of reading ben carson’s autobiography, “gifted hands,” in sixth grade language arts. i grew out of the neurosurgeon phase, but carson remained in…

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