Akhil and Frankenstein Bakehouse

Location: Home, Albuquerque, NM

Person: Akhil

Dessert: Chantilly cake

I’m going to start by addressing the elephant in the room: yes, this is about my brother. But you need to cut me some slack. I mean I have to get my dessert fix in somehow these days, right?

My brother and I have spent our quarantine days holed up in the house with our parents, passing time by rewatching shows, playing poker and Battleship, and arguing about irrelevant—yet somehow very pressing—issues like the correct ratio of peanut butter and jelly for a sandwich (2:1 is obviously superior to 1:1). This post seemed like a good way to break the routine. 

But listen, it’s deceptively hard writing a story about someone you know everything about. So I’ll start with the basics: he’s incredibly creative, loves animals, has a skewed sense of what makes a good PB&J, and all around, is a pretty cool guy. 

First of all, my brother is a fantastic cook, and I’m pretty sure he only got into baking to appease me. We like to say his special skill is “Frankenstein-ing”; he combines random flavors, foods, and recipes flawlessly and makes them feel like they belonged together all along.

Sometimes it’s a simple case of Frankenstein-ing. Take today’s cake for example: he picked and chose a couple of different recipes to achieve the cake he was imagining. Other days, however, he’ll dream up some very odd combinations. Mushrooms and mint? Walnuts and lemon? Doubt him as much as you want, but without fail, he’ll create something incredible. So for ease of reference, let’s dub his baking endeavors as the “Frankenstein Bakehouse.” 

Frankenstein Bakehouse specializes in quarantine goods. Although it got its start years ago, business from loyal customers (mostly me) has really picked up since March. They make feel-good sweets like pretzel bites, bourbon cookies, and of course, banana bread. Chantilly cake is one of their most-requested items. 

I had the pleasure of being the live studio audience for today’s project, so I got to see the Chantilly magic from beginning to end. My brother started by making the cake layers, a vanilla sponge from Dinner at the Zoo. As the layers baked, he moved on to making the frosting and the filling. The frosting was also from Dinner at the Zoo and consisted of cream cheese, mascarpone, and buttercream. The filling was a raspberry and blueberry syrup from Epicurious. 

Once the cakes were out of the oven and cooled down, it was assembly time. He had four cake layers and assembled a coating of syrup, frosting, and fresh berries between each one. As he started decorating the outside of the cake, the unthinkable happened: my brother ran out of frosting. However, out of this tragedy, rose something great and I learned one very important lesson: when things are a little bit messier than they should be, just call it “rustic.”

Like this…

My “rustic” brother has a passion for biology and wildlife conservation and cares about animals more than most people care about anything. He studies French and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Rochester and hopes to get a Ph.D. and use his education to advocate for animals. This summer, he’ll be at St. Louis University, studying bees.

Anyways, back to the cake: I begrudgingly allowed it to sit in the fridge for a day as instructed by my brother, but as soon as we hit the 24-hour mark, I tore right into it. I lifted the first slice out of the cake and structure held up well to reveal beautiful, distinct layers. The sponge was a mouth-watering, custardy texture and was more dense than airy. Aided by the frosting and the syrup, every bite melted in the mouth and coated the tongue. Each element was crucial to the cake’s success and the tartness of the fresh berries provided a welcome contrast to the buttery base. Frankenstein Bakehouse has done it again!

Now, enough with all the compliments. As a sister, I of course have to sprinkle an embarrassing fact about my brother into this story: he has a history of opening car doors straight into metal poles and has thus earned the nickname “The Destroyer.”

One more for good measure? Sure! He also has a fear of small dogs and has been chased around by chihuahuas more than once. 

And how about a photo? I mean, since you asked nicely:

Seriously, though, Frankenstein Bakehouse is the best place for desserts, whether we’re in quarantine or not. Special thanks to my brother Akhil for letting me post about him and to my wonderful and incredibly talented friend Marissa for the illustration!

Here’s to saving the bees and finding some sweetness these days,

Anokhi 

P.S. if you want to make this Chantilly cake, here are the recipes my brother used:
www.dinneratthezoo.com/berry-chantilly-cake/
www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/raspberry-sauce-351012