We challenged chefs of three different skill levels - amateur Emily, home cook Gabrielle, and professional chef Penny Stankiewicz from The Institute Of Culinary Education - to make us a celebratory birthday cake. Once each level of chef had iced up and served their creation, we asked expert food scientist Rose to explain the choices each made along the way - both good and bad. Which birthday cake are you blowing out the candles on first?

Check out Penny's level 3 recipe on the ICE blog: https://www.ice.edu/blog/explosion-cake

Follow chef Penny at @penny.stankiewicz
Follow Emily at @emilyslamduncan
Find Gabrielle at @gabchappel
Looking for Rose? Head to @rosemarytrout_foodscience
The Institute of Culinary Education is on Instagram at @iceculinary

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Level 1 - Emily Duncan
Level 2 - Gabrielle Chappel
Level 3 - Penny Stankiewicz

Director: Vanessa Moreno
Editor: Manolo Moreno
Director of Photography: Eric Brouse
Producer: Tyre Nobles
Associate Producer: Blake Jesse
Culinary Producer: Carrie Parente
Culinary Assistant: Leslie Raney
Culinary Assistant: Stevie Stewart
Audio: Austin Rumsey
Post Production Supervisor: Stephanie Cardone
Associate Director, Post Production: Nicole Berg

Epicurious Video Team
Jonathan Wise
Ali Inglese 
Dan Siegel 
Rhoda Boone 
Carolyn Gagnon 
June Kim
Holly Patton 
Myra Rivera
Billy Keenly

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