You might know her as the “cake mix doctor,” but Anne Byrn has a parallel path charting the history of America through the sweet treats we eat in books like Baking in the American South (2024), American Cookie (2018), and American Cake (2016). With this summer’s semiquincentennial in mind, she’ll expound on 12 cakes that reflect some facet of the nation’s history, starting, by way of Martha Washington’s Great Cake, with its very founding. And if that works up an appetite, you’re in luck: Local bakery Cupprimo will cap off the talk with cake tastings inspired by Byrn’s recipes. – Kimberley Jones
