Beet Cake and Lip Balm: A Delicious Combination

This past week, Food Systems and Politics class was action-packed and we had a special guest, Isa Brito, an herbalist, who helped lead and instruct the two classes. We took a break from the way we usually have class, after we handed in our assignments on gardening techniques, companion planting and square foot gardening.
On Tuesday, Isa taught us how to make our very own lip balm. Making the lip balm was a quick and easy procedure allowing us to recreate the balms independently at home; it was a recipe made in a few simple steps using simple ingredients. First, we measured about five ounces of squares of beeswax (later to be melted) on the electric scale. Our main ingredient, avocado oil, was added to the measuring cup (about ten ounces) and then we put our beeswax in with the oil to be melted into one mixture. Keep in mind, it is important never to boil the ingredients and to only heat them so that they do not burn. We then selected one of the four special essential oils, rose geranium, spruce, peppermint, and lemongrass, to add to our own personalized scents to the lip balm (by putting a few drops, around four to six, in each tube). After the ingredients became one consistency (mostly yellow, with a small hint of green), Isa poured it into the lip balm tubes (which we designed our own labels for). They hardened within minutes and she did another round of pouring to top off the hole on the top. This creation was an all-natural and relatively easy procedure to follow which only took about an hour or so with ingredients easily accessible to purchase. At the end of the day, we all walked out with souvenirs, our own lip balms, we could share with our friends and family (my mom loved hers!).

On Thursday, we were back in the kitchen, putting on our disposable aprons and hairnets, with Isa showing us how to cook the delicious and unusual beet cake. It was great to get back in the kitchen again and it was interesting because hardly anyone ever made this creation before. We all pitched in and did different jobs to make the long cooking process much shorter than it would be if we only had two hands (instead of twenty). It is also interesting to know that very similar ingredients and procedure can be applied to produce a similar cake such as a banana cake (which she recommended). We made two heart shape cakes with poppy seeds to form a crust, which were sprinkled on the pan. Since we had so much “batter” left over, we decided to make cupcakes, which we added cocoa powder to! We topped the cake off with a rich, sugary cream cheese icing (which I thought was the best part). 

These are some pictures of our beautiful beet cake creation. It makes me want to eat it all over again!