Ro: Hey guys, It’s Ro! Welcome to another episode of Nerdy Nummies!
Ro: Today, we have a very special guest! Astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson!
Neil: Hello, thanks for inviting me! Ro: Thanks for being here!
Neil: Mmmm-hmmm, my 1st time! Ro: Yes, and I’m so excited!
Neil: And I love to bake by the way, I’m a baker.
Ro: Yep, we got our bakin’ hats on. Neil: Mmmmhmmm.
Ro: That’s right, and I know that the both of us enjoy Star Trek.
Neil: Indeed. Ro: My favorite series is Star Trek Voyager.
Neil: I’m, I’m old school though, because I’m old enough that I remember the
Neil: 1st series when it came out. So I’m, I’m a Star Trek, First Generation.
Ro: First Generation! Right on!
Neil: Captain Kirk and Spock and the whole, the whole crew.
Ro: Today we are gonna be making a Star Trek Cake from season 6, episode 6,
Ro: A cake made by Tuvok, we are gonna be making a pistachio cake.
Ro: Are you ready? Neil: I saw that episode! Ro: You did?
Neil: Well you made it sound like the whole episode is him making a cake, that’s
Neil: like 5 minutes in the whole episode.
Ro: Yeah, that’s true, he became a pastry a pastry chef for the episode because, uh,
Neil: Because he lost his mind! Ro: He went out on a flyer and he lost his mind.
Neil: He lost his mind.
Ro: So apparently if you get hit by an alien weapon and you lose your mind you
Ro: become a pastry chef!
Ro: Alright, are you ready? Neil: I’m ready! Ro: OK…
Both: Let’s get started!
Ro: The things you will need, will be: 6 egg whites, 2 cups of flour,
Ro: 1-1/2 cups of regular sugar, 1 little box of pistachio pudding mix,
Ro: 2 Teaspoons vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder
Ro: and you will also need…
Neil: Not only that, we need 1-1/2 sticks of butter, we will also need 3/4 of a
Neil: cup of milk, 2%! Ro: Mmmhmm! Neil: Not only that, we’ve got a hand mixer here,
Neil: You know in my day we had to actually do it by hand, now you just plug it in
Neil: and push a button… I’m just saying.
Ro: We got it easy! Neil: You have it easy! Ro: Yeah.
Neil: Also 2 bowls, that would be 2 mixing bowls, love these no, no skid bottoms.
Ro: Yeah!
Neil: And an 8 by 1 inch tray.
Ro: Now let’s put it all together!
Ro: The 1st thing that we’re gonna do is prep our pans, so you’re gonna take
Ro: a little bit of butter, and… Neil: That’s a lot butter, hahahaha!
Ro: Yeah, yeah it kinda is, a lot of butter.
Ro: And you just grease all the corners.
Neil: You know my sister, when I was growing up, used to almost eat butter.
Ro: Really?
Neil: Like the stick of butter would be there, she’d rub her finger on it.
Neil: And we’d see these finger marks in it. And her nickname was stick of butter.
Ro: Now we’re gonna take a piece of parchment paper, I’ve cut them out into
Ro: circles to fit the bottom of the pan, and you’re just gonna press ‘em
Ro: down, so that your cake really won’t stick to the bottom of the pan,
Ro: This recipe is a little bit sticky, so they’re harder to pop out of the tray.
Neil: You don’t ever want to be in a sticky situation!
Ro: Now, in a big mixing bowl, we are going to mix together our butter and sugar.
Ro: And here, Neil, I’m gonna let you do the mixing.
Neil: That’s why you have me on the show. Ro: Yeah! Neil: To use your power tools!
Ro: Yeah, pretty much, so thanks for coming! Neil: Hahaha alright!
Ro: OK, I’m gonna. Neil: Dump it in? Ro: Yep, plop it in there. Neil: Is the butter
Neil: kind of soft? Ro: Yeah, butter is room temperature, that’s a good point.
Ro: You don’t want it to be cold from the fridge, I let it sit out for a while.
Ro: So it’s room temperature and softer. Neil: Otherwise you’ll break this thing.
Ro: Mmmmhmmm. Neil: Like the butter gets in there and it can’t turn, and
Neil: it smokes, and fire, and you don’t want that. Ro: And then we gotta go!
Neil: Haha that’s right!
Ro: There we go. Neil: That looks pretty cool, yeah. Ro: Just mix it together.
Neil: I like that. Ro: Till it’s well combined, Neil knows what he’s doing!
Ro: Look at that! Neil: I got this, I got this. Ro: Right on!
Neil: Captain, we need more power! Ro: If you need more power you crank it up,
Ro: it’s got 5 levels!
Ro: I can’t believe you’re an astrophysicist, that’s so smart!
Neil: Astrophys… Well, it’s just the universe, that’s all. Ro: That’s amazing.
Ro: In high school, what, did you have a favorite class?
Neil: Uh my favorite, I like math. Ro: Math? Neil: Oh yeah, I like math. Ro: Me too!
Neil: If you want to speak to Chinese people in China, you learn Chinese. Ro: Mmmhmm.
Neil: If you want to speak to Spanish people in Spain, you learn Spanish.
Neil: If you want to speak to the Universe… You learn mathematics.
Neil: That is the language of the universe. Ro: I like that! Neil: I’m just saying.
Neil: I also taught a seminar on black holes in my junior year. Ro: Amazing.
Neil: No one else in the world knows that, you’re the first person
Neil: I’ve ever told that to. Ro: Oh my gosh! That’s so cool!
Neil: So next, now that our butter and sugar are well mixed, we are gonna now
Neil: add the dry ingredients and whisk them together.
Neil: So, we’ve got a package of Jello Pistachio Pudding mix, so why don’t you
Neil: open that while I dump this in. Ro: OK. Neil: Then we have 2 cups of
Neil: unbleached flour, here we go. And 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
Ro: Alright this is ready now. Neil: You got it? Ro: And it’s got pistachio
Ro: nuts inside of it even chopped up. Neil: I see that, it smells like
Neil: pistachio too. It ought to, that’s what it’s… If it smelled like bananas
Neil: that would be a problem. OK, so dump that in, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
Neil: And now I take the whisk, and I whisk it away!
Ro: Whisk it up. Neil: That’s the same word, to whisk something away or use a whisk.
Ro: Whisk it…
Ro: You’re a big whisk taker!
Neil: Haha, oh! Ha-ha! Ro: AH!
Ro: For the wet ingredients, we are gonna whisk together in a big bowl, 6 egg whites,
Ro: remember we just want the egg whites, our vanilla extract and our milk.
Ro: So are you ready to crack some eggs? Neil: I can crack some eggs, and…
Ro: OK, I’m gonna crack ‘em. Oh you do it on the side.
Neil: Oh because this is thinner here, on the lip of the bowl, and that can make a
Neil: sharper cut into the egg. You have a broad ridge here, so now you’re smashing it
Neil: with a broad ridge, that’s why I did it.
Ro: I’m learning stuff from an Astrophysicist right now! Neil: It’s not… Hahaha!
Ro: You guys, this is amazing!
Ro: Now we’re gonna add the vanilla and milk, here you go Neil. Neil: Mmmmhmmm.
Ro: And I’ll add the milk. Neil: This is actually vanilla extract. Ro: Mmmhmmm.
Neil: Because vanilla itself is actually a flower, in fact it’s an orchid.
Ro: Huh! And it smells delicious!
Ro: Alright, and now we’re gonna whisk it together!
Neil: Now this looks really gross, I just want to make that… Ro: Yeah, it does.
Ro: Look at how it separated. Neil: Yeah, yeah, so let’s not look and we’ll mix it, and then...
Neil: there we go!
Ro: Before we mix this, I wanted to ask you about your shirt, it’s pretty awesome!
Neil: Oh, up here? Ro: Mmmhmmm! Neil: Occupy Mars, I’m trying to get people
Neil: thinking forward. Ro: I like this. Neil: Get people thinking in the future.
Ro: I want to be there. Neil: You want to go to Mars? Ro: Yeah!
Neil: Do you want enough money to come back or do you want to go there and stay?
Neil: Some people, like, want to go and stay, and I’m thinking…
Ro: Oh this is hard to think about now.
Neil: No, no, it’s not like the pilgrims, where they come across the ocean
Neil: And they land and they’re in the United States, they could at least breathe
Neil: the air, right? Ro: Mmmhmmm. Neil: If you go to Mars, there’s no, you can’t
Neil: breathe the air.
Ro: So when do you think a person will be on Mars? Neil: I don’t know…
Ro: Hmmmmm. Neil: You know, if you went back to the 60’s, people would say we’ll be on Mars
Neil: By the 80’s. You go to the 80’s, we’ll be on Mars by 2000. Ro: Mmmmhmmm.
Neil: And we’re, like, the more time goes on, the more farther away Mars becomes.
Ro: That’s true! Neil: So, it’s still good to dream, maybe the 2030’s, maybe.
Ro: This part is the easy part, it’s the last step. We are gonna alternate
Ro: adding our wet ingredients and dry ingredients into our butter mixture.
Ro: So, and we’re gonna be mixing the whole time, so Neil, you ready to mix?
Neil: I am ready, oh, again I am your official, like, mixer. Ro: Yep, the mixer!
Ro: Mix it up! Neil: Power tools person. Ro: Yep!
Ro: OK, so you get mixin’!
Neil: 1/2 of dry? Ro: 1/2 of dry first. Neil: There we go.
Ro: That’s about 1/2, that’s good. Neil: That’s pry about 2/3. Ro: Shake it around,
Ro: there we go! Neil: OK. Ro: OK, mix that up, great! Neil: Give me some 1/2 wet?
Ro: Alright, here we go! Neil: That’s good. Good! Nice!
Ro: Just eyeball it, mix it together.
Ro: And you’re gonna want to scrape the sides, get all the little extras.
Neil: Little more dry. Ro: It’s starting to turn Green!
Ro: Alright, last of the wet ingredients.
Ro: Ready for my favorite part? Neil: What’s your favorite part? Ro: Ejecting?
Neil: Oh I love ejecting! Ro: OK, OK, OK!
Neil: I was gonna like, try to get to, see if I could reach the sink.
Ro: Oh yeah, try it! OK, try it!
Neil: Now, to, to launch something the farthest. Ro: OK. Neil: OK, you want to
Neil: do it at a 45 degree angle. Ro: A 45 degree angle.
Neil: If you do it higher than that, it’ll go high and then go short, if it’s
Neil: lower it will fall before it goes, so, a 45 degree angle, ready? Ro: 45 Degree Angle!
Neil: OK, ready? Ro: This is great!
Both: Yeahhhh!
Neil: Let’s put this one over here. Ro: I think that one, he’s just stuck…
Neil: Let's try that one. Ro: Let's try that one!
Neil: Aaaaaaaayyyyyy! Ro: Yeahhhhh! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!
Neil: So, we have the green batter. Ro: Mmmmhmmm.
Neil: Looking very alien. Ro: Mmmmhmmm. Neil: Because everyone knows
Neil: aliens are green. Ro: They are! Neil: Everyone knows this. Ro: They’re green!
Neil: OK, Did you know that E.T. was a plant, not an animal?
Ro: E.T. is a plant? Neil: E.T. is a plant! Ro: Pfft!
Neil: Did you ever wonder why he had such good relationships with plants?
Ro: Yeah. Neil: He came near plants and he brought them back to life.
Ro: Mmmhmmm. Neil: He’s actually plant matter, not animal matter.
Neil: Now they don’t say that in the movie, but you know how I know?
Neil: I spoke to Steven Spielberg. Ro: Oh my gosh! Neil: And he said that’s how
Neil: he conceived him. Ro: Oh my gosh! Neil: Yep! Ro: That’s so cool!
Neil: E.T. is vegetable
Neil: So, we have 3… It’s a 3 layer cake! Ro: Yep!
Neil: We have… This amount of batter! Ro: Yep!
Neil: We put in 1/3, in each 3rd, 3 x 1/3 equals 1.
Neil: So here we go. Ro: And just eyeball it, do it to the best you can.
Neil: So, while we’re splitting this into 3 parts, another little factoid.
Ro: Huh! Yes! Neil: About E.T., E.T. appeared in Star Wars Episode 1,
Neil: I think he was in the… 1 of the creatures in the Senate. Ro: Mmmmhmmm.
Neil: And they identified what his species name is, and it’s Spielberg,
Neil: spelled backwards. Ro: Spielberg…
Both: Greb… Greb… Greblips? hahahahaha!
Ro: Now that our cakes are ready to bake, you’re gonna heat your oven to
Ro: 350 and we’re gonna bake them for 30 minutes!
Neil: 350 Degrees Fahrenheit.
Neil: Time to make decorations for the cake. Ro: Mmmhmmm!
Neil: Otherwise, it wouldn’t really be a cake. Ro: Yeah, it would be boring!
Neil: Yeah, so what, do we… Like, there’s a concoction in here, what?
Ro: We’ve got some melted chocolate, this is milk chocolate, but you can use
Ro: dark chocolate or whatever kind that you’d like.
Ro: And I put it in a plastic bag, with a number 3 tip at the end, so we’d have
Ro: a little bit more control. And then, I drew 2 designs over here, and I will
Ro: scan these so that if you’d like to, you can download them and use them
Ro: as a guideline as well. But I just sketched little designs that look like the
Ro: cake from the show. Alright, and I put a piece of wax paper on top.
Neil: So these are not completely random? Ro: No, not completely random.
Neil: You studied the cake in frame captures of the show, and duplicated it here.
Ro: I did, I did take screen caps. Neil: It doesn’t get Nerdier than that!
Ro: Thank you!
Ro: Alright, so now. Neil: Ready? Ro: You’re gonna take your chocolate, and
Ro: you’re just gonna copy little shapes on top of the piece of wax paper.
Ro: They don’t need to be perfect, just do your best.
Ro: Once you’ve drawn all your little designs, we’re gonna put these in the
Ro: freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
Ro: While our decorations are chilling, we are going to assemble our cakes.
Ro: Once your cakes are out of the oven, make sure they’ve had plenty of time
Ro: to cool, and brrrroooop! Just put down the frosting on our first layer.
Neil: This smells good, what’s this made of? Ro: This is vanilla cream frosting.
Ro: In the episode, it’s called para-cream frosting, but I didn’t know what that
Ro: was, because that’s Star Trek Lingo and that doesn’t exist. So we’re gonna
Ro: have to settle for vanilla cream frosting.
Neil: Does not exist… On Earth. Ro: On Earth, true that!
Ro: You’re gonna put cake, frosting, cake, frosting, cake!
Neil: Nice frosting job! Ro: Thank you! Neil: Excellent, excellent!
Ro: Our chocolate designs have chilled in the fridge and now we’re just gonna stick
Ro: them all the way around the cake, any way you’d like.
Ro: Now we’ve got all our chocolate decorations on the cake, you want to give it a
Ro: spin? It’s on a turntable. Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!
Ro: And then over here, I’ve got some vanilla buttercream frosting that I’ve
Ro: dyed red, and I’m using a number 10 tip to draw the cloaking frequency design
Ro: on the top that Tuvok drew.
Ro: Down… Neil: Then come to the middle, yeah, you’re good, come up.
Ro: Come up. Neil: OK stop! Ro: Ohp! Neil: Put a little segment after that, do a little boop.
Ro: Boop!
Ro: Ta-daaaaaa!
Neil: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, pets and whatever other species are
Neil: watching the show… This is the cloaking frequency from season 6, episode 6,
Neil: of Star Trek Voyager. It is this frequency that, which, when used,
Neil: in the vicinity of the space through which their vessel was traveling,
Neil: they could un-cloak the enemy alien vessels… SNAP!
Ro: It’s like the Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak… But in space!
Ro: Alright, thank you so much you guys for watching! And thank you Neil for being here.
Neil: It’s a pleasure! Thanks for having me!
Ro: This was amazing! Seriously made my year! This was so cool.
Neil: Do I get to eat this?
Ro: Yeah, we can, we can cut a slice right after this!
Neil: Well cuz the sh… Yeah, but there’d be no evidence of it. Ro: Ohhhhh…
Ro: We can cut a slice right now if you want.
Neil: No that’s fine, it’s too beautiful, it’s too beautiful! Ro: Ohhh OK, OK.
Neil: Plus you never know, if aliens are parked outside of the earth
Neil: right now, and we need to invoke this frequency in order to find out where
Neil: they are. Ro: And we’ll be like, look guys, this will save the day!
Neil: Give this to the pentagon! Ro: Yeah! We, it’s top secret!
Ro: And Neil, are there any specific links that you would like me to put,
Ro: like um… Neil: I, I got some links, I tweet, @NeilTyson. Ro: Mmmmhmmm
Neil: N-E-I-L-T-Y-S-O-N. And my tweets are, they’re just brain droppings,
Neil: they’re just stuff that falls out of my head, what am I gonna do with this,
Neil: let me tweet it. Ro: Cool! Neil: That’s what my tweets are.
Neil: And, my Facebook page is pretty easy to find, uh, I have a radio show,
Ro: Mmmhmmm. Neil: And its just jumped species and it’s going to appear on television.
Ro: Cool! Neil: The National Geographic Channel, check it out. Ro: Right on.
Neil: It’s called Star Talk. Ro: I love it! I love it!
Ro: OK, cool! Alright, I will be posting lots of pictures of our baking creation
Ro: today on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram. And if you guys bake
Ro: this cake, please send us photos, tweet them to the both of us, we would love
Ro: to see your baking creations! And I will be putting all of Neil’s links down
Ro: below, so go check him out. He’s a busy astrophysicist, he’s got a lot going
Ro: on and he’s doing really cool stuff, so go check it out!
Ro: Thanks again you guys, bye-bye!
Ro: Live long. Neil: And Prosper.