·S2 E590

American Made

June 25

59 mins

View Transcript

Episode Description

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In this episode, Ron talks to Grace Pak (founder and cake artist behind Duchess of Cameron, and the artist selected by America 250 to create the official cake for the country's 250th birthday) about how a single dessert became a bipartisan project.

They explore her path from a Columbia neuroscience lab to fine art cake design, and the philosophy of "cake as therapy" that shapes her studio work. Then they turn to the commission itself: how she pitched it, why she landed on the theme American Made, and how children's artwork from all fifty states and the territories became the centerpiece.

Later, Grace walks through the congressional sessions she's running on Capitol Hill, the donated ingredients sourced from local farms and historic mills, the recipe she rebuilt from the first American cookbook, and the logistics of moving a cake the size of a car.

They discuss:

(0:00) Pitching the birthday cake

(4:07) From a neuroscience lab to a cake studio

(7:37) Fine art cakes and the multisensory experience

(14:33)Personifying America and landing on American Made

(29:48) Bipartisan sessions on Capitol Hill

(37:04) Sourcing the ingredients from local farms

(41:51) Baking like it's 1796: the historic recipe research

(46:53) A cake the size of a car: logistics, humidity, and delivery

(49:13) Volunteers, nonprofits, and what she'll take away

Check out Duchess of Cameron: https://www.duchessofcameron.com/

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