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Baking for Nine Hours on a Saturday

Cathey House's Showstopper Round Cake
Cathey House's Showstopper Round Cake

At long last, we arrived at the Showstopper Round. We needed all the time we could get, so this round was three hours long. To remind you, the theme was “something UChicago pays for.” Our inspiration for the cake was “Teatime in Renee Granville Grossman,” in honor of a beloved event in the dorm that is hosted by the RDs. We planned for our cake to be three tiers, each one a different flavor of tea. We brewed earl grey milk, chamomile milk, and jasmine milk to infuse the batter with a light tea flavor. We finely chopped tea leaves and made sugary syrups to baste the cakes and create a punchy, aromatic flavor. The frosting was a honey buttercream as a nod to sweetening tea with honey. Finally, we lined the cake with candied lemons. It was our most ambitious task yet.

Submitted by Selma C. on Friday, April 24, 2020