4 Levels of Birthday Cake: Amateur to Food Scientist | Epicurious

We challenged chefs of three different skill levels - amateur Emily, home cook Gabrielle, and professional chef Penny Stankiewicz from The Institute Of Culinary Education - to make us a celebratory birthday cake. Once each level of chef had iced up and served their creation, we asked expert food scientist Rose to explain the choices each made along the way - both good and bad. Which birthday cake are you blowing out the candles on first?


Follow Emily at @emilyslamduncan
Find Gabrielle at @gabchappel
Looking for Rose? Head to @rosemarytrout_foodscience
The Institute of Culinary Education is on Instagram at @iceculinary

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Level 1 - Emily Duncan
Level 2 - Gabrielle Chappel
Level 3 - Penny Stankiewicz

Director: Vanessa Moreno
Editor: Manolo Moreno
Director of Photography: Eric Brouse
Producer: Tyre Nobles
Associate Producer: Blake Jesse
Culinary Producer: Carrie Parente
Culinary Assistant: Leslie Raney
Culinary Assistant: Stevie Stewart
Audio: Austin Rumsey
Post Production Supervisor: Stephanie Cardone
Associate Director, Post Production: Nicole Berg

Epicurious Video Team
Jonathan Wise
Ali Inglese 
Dan Siegel 
Rhoda Boone 
Carolyn Gagnon 
June Kim
Holly Patton 
Myra Rivera
Billy Keenly


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[Marcedonia]

I love the fact the level 3 chef is always like, “i’ve been making food since moses split the red sea”.

[chilibreath]

Emily: traditional kid's birthday cake
Gabrielle: grown-up Reese's cake
Penny: PARTY BOOZE CAKE
Stephen: CHEESECAKE

[dashiiii]

"you can be as aggressive as you want"

*Cuts to penny tapping the hell out of that batter* 😭😭😭 the editors are gold

[ghostsomenswho]

Emily is the average thing I bake, Gabrielle is when I'm actually making someone else's birthday cake, and Penny is what I think I can make when I'm watching Bake Off

[YouPlague]

The professional cake looks awesome, but Emily's looks wholesome. Maybe as a kid I would not appreciate that, but hers would make me feel the best on my birthday.

[maddelise]

I've just realised Emily's cake looks like the one Hagrid gave Harry when he turned 11 😂

[Steveofthejungle]

Ooh Penny’s in this video I wonder if she’s gonna add alco-
“Soaked in St. Germaine”
There it is

[Fuahsawas]

Only Emily's says "Happy Birthday" so really she's the only one who made a birthday cake.

[anahernandezgonzalez]

Emily was having fun, Gabrielle was having her pinterest moment and Penny was giving us a cake making lecture

[kaelinvasseur]

Penny: knows exactly what shes doing at all times and explains it well
Gabrielle: joking around and cutting a few corners but still knows what shes doing
Emily: i cal it the dump and spread

[apoloxix]

Good to have Emily back. Eager to see how she will incorporate ketchup into a birthday cake.

[StephanieGould]

Penny: "This is how you hold an off-set spatula. Not like this"
Emily: *Holds it the wrong way.*

[michellex]

Alcohol to penny is what ketchup is to Emily.

[motherisTayloring]

Honestly, Gabrielle's cake would likely be everyone's favorite in my family. Its a decent cake, not over the top but just the right amount of sweetness and flavor, and its simple

[anjna]

I love how the birthday cakes sorta seem to represent their personalities.

[bearcatfan]

Penny has grown on me the more I’ve watched her. At first I thought she was kind of stuck up and pretentious but I’ve learned that she’s just serious and passionate about what she does. She’s self aware about alcohol being in her dishes and subtly rolls with the jokes and I think it’s opened her up to be a little more goofy and I like to see it

[maromania]

"Usually I just follow a box mix" and "I'm just reading the internet and doing what I'm told"
Spoken like a true level one, glad to see it. She's getting toward level 2 in cooking, but baking is still the old Emily we remember. Though her humor is always top notch.

[nope-mthc]

Aww, Emily’s cake is so charming, Gabrielle’s is classic, and Penny’s is extravagant. And Rose is a pink dream. 💖

[eltoro]

*Penny and Gaby: Never crack the eggs on the edge of the bowl
Cut to Emily:
*Cracks egg on the edge of the bowl
Never change, Emily!!!

[IHRSX]

You’ll never know what this comment used to be…