The Sporkful

What Will America’s 250th Birthday Cake Look Like?

June 15, 2026·49 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

In just a few weeks, the United States will mark its 250th birthday, with celebrations all across the country. But when cake artist Grace Pak started looking into it a few months ago, she realized the festivities were missing something crucial: a birthday cake! Now, she’s been tasked with making it. It’ll take a month to complete and include contributions from dozens of members of Congress. The final cake is supposed to be the size of a car. So how do you make such an ambitious confection? Grace tells me all about the process, then lets me try a sample. After that, I travel to our nation’s capital to see Rep. Tom Suozzi put his own decorative flair on the cake. Plus, we go behind the scenes on two collaborations for the Great Nosh summer picnic: a Jewish taco and an Indian bagel. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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