Keeping Democracy Sweet

I love democracy, and I love cake. 

Luckily, I don’t have to choose between the two. In fact, I’ve discovered they make a delightful pair. 

One of my favorite parts of my recent project on Living Constitutionally involved the quest to bring back the forgotten eighteenth-century tradition of Election Cakes. In the United States’ early years, many Americans baked cakes on Election Day. The idea was to celebrate this amazing, awe-inspiring new right to choose their own leaders. It was a delicious reminder: Democracy is sweet. 

Last year, while writing my book, I had a revelation: Let’s bring back cake! 

And with the help of more than 200 democracy-loving bakers, Election Cakes did come back. At least a bit. On November 7 of last year, amateur pastry chefs from around the nation (we had at least one baker in all fifty states) made cakes and brought them to the polls — or just shared them with family and co-workers. 

Which brings me to an announcement. I figured the Fourth of July is an appropriate time to unveil…

Election Cake Project 2024: Bigger, Better, and More Sugary! 

I am hereby officially beseeching my fellow Substack citizens: Join our movement and bake a cake this coming November 5. Make democracy sweet again!

It’s fun. I swear. And I say that knowing there isn’t much about politics that’s fun right now. Actually, the project wasn’t simply fun. It was weirdly emotional for me and for many of the bakers. It was this small island of positivity among the tidal waves of vitriol and depressing political news. One of the bakers told me, “I didn’t realize how stressed and sad I’ve been until I had something positive to do.” 

I know that cakes are not going to solve democracy’s very real problems. We need big reforms, such as ending gerrymandering and term limits on the Supreme Court. But cake can be a small slice of the story, a way to remind ourselves that we’ve got to fight to keep democracy alive. 

The cakes don’t have to be fancy, and it’s easy to sign up. Just email me at ElectionCake2024@gmail.com, and I’ll send you instructions. Also, please join our Facebook page. And read on for more details.

We made Democracy is Sweet buttons. It was my mom’s idea.

THE HISTORY OF THE CAKE  

Overall, there’s a lot about eighteenth and nineteenth-century elections that deserves to stay in the past. Many groups were deprived of their right to cast a ballot, including women, Black people, and Indigenous people. 

But there’s one aspect of early elections that does seem worthy of recapturing. For those Americans who had the privilege to vote, this new right was breathtaking. We get to choose our own leaders? Huzzah! Which meant Election Day was seen by them as a festive occasion, not a chore. They had parades, music, farmer’s markets, and plenty of rum punch. It wasn’t quite Coachella, but you get the idea. 

And did I mention there was cake? Sometimes very big cake. One recipe called for 14 pounds of butter and 10 pounds of sugar. The traditional Election Cake recipe (first published in 1796) also contained ingredients such as figs, cinnamon, cloves, raisins, and nutmeg. 

My son Zane and I made a small version of that recipe and it wasn’t bad. Tasted like participatory democracy! Actually, the spices made it taste vaguely like Worcestershire sauce. 

We considered asking all our bakers to use the original recipe, but instead, we decided we’d be happy with any type of cake. Our bakers had freedom of the oven. 

THE LATTER-DAY CAKE MOVEMENT BEGINS

Several months before Election Day 2023, I logged onto Facebook — which I know is not very eighteenth century (though, in my defense, it is one of the older platforms, making it closer to 1789.) I sent out a plea to my network: Bake a cake on or before Election Day to celebrate democracy. Decorate it if you so desire — perhaps red, white, and blue icing, perhaps something themed to your state. Then bring the cake to the polls — or just eat it with friends 

The response was immediate and heartening. A baker in Vermont signed on! Then Illinois. Then California. “Can we make pot brownies?” asked one responder. “Or would that be considered election interference?” I’ll allow it!

It took a few months, but we eventually found suffrage-supporting bakers in all fifty states. The final holdout was North Dakota, which signed up just days before November 7. Thank you, Violet Smith of North Dakota! You are an American hero. 

North Dakota cake from Violet Smith

I called the movement the Great A-bakening. Julie preferred The Great American Bake-off. However you refer to it, this idea of baking for democracy might be a small gesture, but there’s evidence it has real effects. I found a study by some Yale political scientists called “Putting the Party Back in Politics.”* For their experiment, the researchers set up little festivals with music and food at various voting stations around the country. The result? The festivities boosted turnout by almost 7 percent. Which is not nothing.

Our friend from Australia pointed out that her country has a similar tradition: Democracy Sausages. The Aussies turn Election Day into a nationwide barbecue. 

A Maine cake from Kimberly Becker and Elizabeth Samet; Maryland’s Lauren Marcus Kirsch; Colorado’s Lindsay Kennedy; Georgia’s Lisa Green-Clopton; California’s Mary Martin; New York’s me and my mom; Illinois’ Nicole Silberman; and Virginia’s Stacey Struminger et al.

THE BIG DAY 

On the morning of November 5, I spent several hours in our New York kitchen working on  my contribution: A white sheet cake with the words of the Constitution’s preamble spelled out in black cursive icing. I added a few cloves to the batter, in honor of the traditional recipe.

And then Julie and I donned our eighteenth-century outfits (we commit to the bit!) and brought the cake to a polling station on the Upper West Side. We stayed 100 feet from the entrance, as legally required in New York State. 

“What’s going on here?” asked a gray-haired man who stopped as we arranged the cake on a fold-out table.

“I’m trying to revive the eighteenth-century tradition of election cakes to remind people that democracy is sweet,” I said.

He took a piece. There were some skeptics, but the vast majority of passersby were pro-cake, some stridently so. The cake disappeared quickly. We brought the last few pieces into the public school cafeteria to hand out to the poll workers. They devoured them. It seems to me we need to do a better job of feeding the people who are safeguarding our democracy. 

Ohio’s Derek and Jane Wallace Duncan; New Mexico’s Erin Neilson; Pennsylvania’s Francee Biondi; Florida’s Haly and Laura Schroder; Hawaii’s Iris Wilhelm; Idaho’s Jamie Becker; Massachusetts’ Jen Mau; Ohio’s Jodi Ransom; Texas’s Kevin and Mary Troller

Hitting the pavement was fun, but the true highlight of the day was seeing the bakers from around the country as they posted on our Facebook page.

All the best American traits were on display. 

Tenacity: Missouri’s Debbie Hartle got in a car crash and was in the hospital but didn’t want to leave me in the lurch, so she convinced a friend to bake a Missouri cake.

Innovation: my mom made cupcakes in ice cream cones, that wonderfully clever American food holder that became famous at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.

Creativity: New Jersey’s Anna Sank made a diorama of little edible voters waiting in line.

Community: people turned the baking and eating into a neighborhood activity, taking it to the streets, their county election offices, their school classrooms.

As I said, America needs real reforms to its democracy. For instance, I’m in favor of making Election Day a national holiday and appointing non-partisan commissions to end gerrymandering. 

So cake is not a substitute for this. But cake is a good gateway carb. 

This year, Julie and I hope to get at least 500 bakers. We want multiple bakers in every state. We’d be happy with folks from other countries too! We want individuals, but we’d also love to have participation from companies, media outlets, and food-stagrammers. (Already, the folks at The Colin McEnroe Show, an NPR show based in Connecticut, pledged to join, which is appropriate because Election Cakes were born in Connecticut.)

So please join our Facebook page, and email me at ElectionCake2024@gmail.com. I’ll be reading all the emails myself. And I will then send you information — recipes, instructions on how to submit photos, helpful tips from previous bakers (including my niece, professional baker Ally Schoenberg who is on IG at @allycutthecake). 

The bar to participate is low. You just need to bake one cake. Doesn’t have to be fancy, and the recipe is up to you. Then you simply take a couple of photos and send them to me. And also you get to eat cake.

In the meantime, Happy Fourth of July! 

.Nevada’s Allison Kheel; New Yorks Ally Schoenberg; Mississippi’s Amanda McGown; New Hampshire’s Amy Donnelly Beaupre; Utah’s Courtney Nixa; Kansas’ Dale Berlau; Iowa’s Dawn Barker Anderson (with nineteen raspberries in honor of the Nineteenth Amendment); Missouri’s Debbie Hartle; and New Jersey’s Deborah Kirwan Wild.

*The paper appeared in the journal Political Science.& Politics and was called “Putting the Party Back into Politics”  

NOTE: I know this is the second post in a row about the Constitution project. I couldn’t resist the July 4 call. But next week’s will be on a non-nineteenth-century topic.