Valentine’s Day is a holiday full of love and chocolate, and Jen loves chocolate. So what better way to celebrate than making Valentine’s Day-themed chocolate cupcakes with Julia Craig, Lafayette College’s very own executive pastry chef.
I wandered to the back of Marquis Dining Hall on Wednesday morning, eager to try my hand at making a pink dessert. Craig greeted me kindly, gave me a hairnet and an apron and put me right to work.
Three additional pastry chefs were working in harmony to make the desserts for the rest of the week. Vibes were good. A “chill house mix” was playing over a speaker.
Craig placed a tray of 72 pre-baked chocolate cupcakes in front of me and taught me how to frost them with the pink fluffy frosting from a piping bag. Since the theme of the week was Valentine’s Day, the cupcakes were inspired by the classic symbol of love: chocolate-covered strawberries.
“I try to switch it up every year,” said Craig, who has worked at Lafayette for two-and-a-half years. “This year we decided on some cheesecake, chocolate strawberry cupcakes and red velvet cheesecake brownies.”
Cheesecake is Craig’s favorite dessert to make and to eat. That explained why I saw cheesecake so often at the dessert tables in the dining halls.
I asked the chef how she decides what to bake each week, and she initially confessed that she Googles different ideas. However, she really wants to bake for us.
“I definitely like to take the students’ consideration into everything,” Craig said. She wants to “make sure you guys are getting what you want to eat.”
The strawberry cupcakes were looking pretty good — I mean, obviously not as good as they usually look, but pretty good for not having done this for two-and-a-half years. I was having fun, but everything is more fun when it’s not your job.
In the end, I decorated 123 strawberry cupcakes that were to be distributed at Upper Farinon and Marquis on Friday. Please do not judge them too much, because I promise I tried my best. I even added sprinkles and chocolate curls to make them extra cute.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Lafayette. Please enjoy a chocolate strawberry cupcake.
