When Mathematics Came to My Rescue

Baking is one of my greatest joys. I do not bake as often as I used to once upon a time anymore but it is truly one of my greatest joys. I find it intense yet relaxing and it allows my creativity to flow. It is a great way to express myself though several times what I have on my mind is not necessarily what the end result is. I usually like to bake only for my family but occasionally I do bake for others and rarely ever take it outside home.

Today, I would like to share an experience I had when I baked for my colleagues for an office potluck and had to transport it the hot weather of Hyderabad. I decided to bake an eggless chocolate cake with ganache frosting with chocolate coated strawberries. Before I delve in to the details, I would like to apologise upfront for the poor quality of the images that have been drawn. They are just representations and not drawn to scale.

Usually when I bake a cake for my family, I never bother too much about the size of the cake and the container I have to keep it in as it never leaves the house and gives me the flexibility that I need. However, since I had to carry it to work, I had to bake according to the size of the container. This is when I thanked my stars for paying a bit of attention to my Geometry lessons back in school.

I did not want to carry the fancy cake box. I wanted to give it a homely feel. So, I chose a round steel container, but would it hold the cake? I measured the diameter of the container and that of the cake pan and the cake would fit in perfectly. Now, I cannot just drop the cake directly into the container as it would have the frosting and I cannot frost when the cake is inside the container as the sides/walls of the container would come in the way. I had to choose a plate which is slightly bigger than the cake and slightly smaller than the container and would give me enough space to lift the cake out of the container without disturbing the frosting on the cake. Geometry to the rescue again...after spending about 10-15 min on this I came up with the exact diameter of the plate I needed to do the job. After rummaging through my utensils, I finally and fortunately found such a plate.

So now the cake was baked and out of the oven and the aroma of vanilla wafted through the air at home and filled my home with the aroma of chocolatey goodness (I am reliving that time and oh how my mouth is watering at the mere thought of the fragrance). Anyway, when the cake cooled, I decided to add the filling, for which, I cut the cake into half horizontally. Somehow, something struck me to check if I can put the lid on the container without disturbing the frosting. On adding the filling, the height of the cake would increase and so would the addition of frosting. It was really late in the night and I did not want go looking for another container. I measured the wall of the container with the lid on and, without the lid on, measured the height of plate on which I would place the cake and calculated the optimal height of the cake, considering that strawberries would go on top. I also checked the maximum allowable circumference of the cake that would enable it to sit pretty in the container which led to the calculation of the maximum allowable frosting on the cake.

After all these calculations, I placed the cake on the plate, carefully frosted the cake constantly measuring its dimensions so that it fits in absolutely perfectly into the container. I could not add the filling as even a measly amount of it would increase the height of cake. I just frosted it externally and put in chocolate coated strawberries on top and sprinkled some coloured sugar on top.

I saw it as a personal victory when the all those crazy measurements and calculations paid off and the plate with the cake on it, smoothly made it into the container in a way that would ensure that the frosting would not be effected. It rested in the refrigerator all night.

The next challenge was to make sure the cake made it to the office without melting of the ganache frosting during transport on a motorbike. Now those who tell me that ganache does not melt easily, try Hyderabad's heat and also that the fact that it was in a steel container would not have helped too much. I covered the cake in a thick cloth cover and a bag on the outside. I made it to work with only the coloured sugar melting but the rest was intact. I put the cake in the refrigerator and breathed a sigh of relief.

The Actual End Product on the plate

When my colleagues enjoyed the cake and appreciated it, all the hard work put behind the cake between 10pm and 3am (yes, started a little late due to a crazy day at work) seemed worth it and made my day. It was one of the very very few times that the cake left home and I made me realise that though I was a little dull when it came to mathematics, when it is time for application, I can recall things I did not know that I knew and apply it as though I use that knowledge every single day. I am sure it is the same with everyone- no knowledge is really lost, just temporarily forgotten.