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Having Our Cake and Eating It Too

jrlewis's picture
Submitted by jrlewis on Fri, 04/16/2010 - 12:27pm

PLEASE provide me with feedback on my cake project...  What did you like?  What didn't you like?  What might I do differently next time?  How do you feel about me baking my final project for our literature course?

Also, see my blog for more on the cake project

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xhan's picture

hmm...

Submitted by xhan on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 2:10am.

 Like Shayna, I perceived your cakes as being a "remix" of the "original".  However, for me this did not translate into a "parody", as Anne mentioned. Do all "remixes" have to be "parodies"? And if your second cake was a parody of the first, what aspect of the first cake is it parodying?  To me a remix is an alternate version of something; one that consists of adding, or subtracting elements. So I consider the second cake to be a remix of the first, because it seemed like you added some ingredients to the cake, and might have refrained from adding others! This is just my interpretation..and  a novice one at that....seeing as i cannot seem to cook for the life of me..

but on another note, I really liked the sweet, nutty taste of the second cake! It really worked out well.

Shayna S's picture

Cakes

Submitted by Shayna S on Mon, 04/19/2010 - 11:53am.

 Personally, I enjoyed the original better because it was a stronger sweet flavor. I did enjoy your "remix" of the recipe and I wonder how the final recipe will taste as it will have elements from both cakes. 

On a more literary note, I agree with Anne in that it is very interesting seeing the textual recipe manifest itself in a product that engages all of our senses. I could get used to this type of reading. 

jrlewis's picture

Reconsidering Cakes

Submitted by jrlewis on Mon, 04/19/2010 - 12:40pm.

You make a good point that cakes are traditionally sweet and not savory.  In fact, this is the historical demarcation between bread and cakes, one is savory and the other is sweet.  Perhaps my 4/15 cake was more like a lemon bread?  So this week, I will try to move my creation into the genre of cakes.  I am adding a second layer of lemon cake and an external icing.  The external icing will be a licorice flavored butter cream.  The butter cream icing will have the highest sugar content of any of the 3 major components of the cake.  So maybe my next mutation will be more appealing to you?

Anne Dalke's picture

Eating our cake and analyzing it too

Submitted by Anne Dalke on Fri, 04/16/2010 - 5:55pm.

...what is really intriguing me about this project is the way is it taking seriously the notion of interpretation, by

  • reading a recipe and making the cake (thereby making the interpretation material/REAL); then
  • changing the recipe and making a different cake (thereby experimenting w/ a  range of possible interpretations, and w/ what counts as "adaptation");
  • inviting judgments (which version is "best"? what are the standards for evaluation here?);
  • testing the genre of the recipe--what are its features? what are its limits? what makes it "work"?
  • expanding the definition of what counts as literature;
  • making me think some more about parody: is this exercise parodic, or....?

Plus I love eating the cake. On Thursday, I found the "interpreted" (i.e. hazelnut) version far superior to the original, which was, I thought, too strongly almond flavored. The revised version was more subtle in taste. Yummier.

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