Kairos Christian Fellowship (Gracepoint – Berkeley)

Warning: Do not read this post on an empty stomach.

Last Tuesday night, October 20th, the sophomore sisters had a fun-filled baking night at Dana House. Working at a huge table strewn with measuring cups, mixing bowls, and various ingredients, from phyllo dough to rice vinegar, we made fruit tarts, red velvet cupcakes, and pumpkin mochi from scratch. While we all had different levels of baking experience, it was entertaining to just figure out the recipes together (for the red velvet cupcakes, we had to convert ounces into cups…ummm…) and see how they turned out in the end.

After all the desserts were baked and decorated, we all sat around the Korean tea table to eat them! While they were all amazingly delicious, we were able to award each of them with its own separate title:

1) Tastiest: Pumpkin Mochi. The pumpkin mochi was perfect: warm, crispy around the edges, and soft and gooey on the inside. Most of us admitted to having three or four, though there were still enough left over to bring home “to our roommates”.

2) Prettiest: Fruit Tarts. After filling phyllo dough with a rich blend of cream cheese, whipped cream, and vanilla, we adorned them with berries, drizzled the top with melted chocolate, and sprinkled powdered sugar on as a finishing touch. Though they were easy to make, the finished products seriously looked as if they had come from a professional caterer or five-star restaurant.

3) Bloodiest?: Red Velvet Cupcakes. These cocoa-flavored cupcakes were very…red. Though we could spread cream cheese frosting on top, the whiteness could still not subdue their vivid color. Nevertheless, they were quite scrumptious (their appearance, not their taste, reflected this award).

Overall, it was really refreshing to just take a break from midterm-studying and our own stressful schedules and just spend a few hours talking, building our relationships with one another, and creating beautiful things together. We were also encouraged to bring our friends and roommates, so it was fun meeting some new people as well. What better way to bond than through measurement conversions and delicious food? Can’t wait till our next baking night!