For Patrick Evans and Jason Becton of MarieBette Café and Bakery in Charlottesville, Virginia, baking is both a science and an art with their stencil series. The series features the faces of noteworthy members of the Black and LGBTQ+ communities for Black History Month and Pride Month, respectively. They do two kinds of stencils, using powdered sugar on the flat top of a chocolate cake, which works well for more detailed stencils, or baked into the flour on top of a loaf of their sourdough bread. “You lose definition with the bread because there’s steam involved,” Evans says, “so it works better with simpler images.”
For the first-time stenciler at home, they’ve created a simple stencil-making and bread-baking tutorial featuring a heart to encompass the spirit of their stenciling series. Check it out in their Culinary Class here.
recipe 
yields
Serves 2 to 4
¾ cups butter, cut into pieces
¾ cups semisweet chocolate chips
¾ cups plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1¼ cups granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
Powdered sugar, for stenciling
Ingredients
steps
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat stove to medium-high heat and bring a a small pot filled halfway with water to a simmer. Create a double boiler by placing a medium bowl over pot, making sure it doesn’t touch water. To bowl, add butter and chocolate chips, making sure butter is on the bottom, and whisk constantly until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk to combine cocoa powder, sugar, and salt. Whisk in eggs one at a time, stirring to fully combine after each addition. Pour hot chocolate mixture into cocoa-sugar mixture and whisk fully until combined. Stop mixing once mixture has cooled and thickened.
- While mixture cools, prepare 2 6-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and line bottom with parchment paper. Divide batter into prepared pans and use an offset spatula to spread evenly.
- Bake cakes for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool, then turn out and remove parchment paper, keeping parchment side facing up for stenciling.
- Once cake cools, it is ready for stenciling. Check out MarieBette’s how-to here.
Video by: Jana Cruder
Production by: Maggie Ward
Location: MarieBette Café and Bakery
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Recipe By
Patrick Evans and Jason Becton of MarieBette Café and Bakery, Charlottesville, Virginia -
Contributing City
Charlottesville
