We challenged chefs of three different skill levels - amateur Emily, home cook Gabrielle, and professional chef Penny Stankiewicz from The Institute Of Culinary Education - to make us a celebratory birthday cake. Once each level of chef had iced up and served their creation, we asked expert food scientist Rose to explain the choices each made along the way - both good and bad. Which birthday cake are you blowing out the candles on first? Check out Penny's level 3 recipe on the ICE blog: https://www.ice.edu/blog/explosion-cake Follow chef Penny at @penny.stankiewicz Follow Emily at @emilyslamduncan Find Gabrielle at @gabchappel Looking for Rose? Head to @rosemarytrout_foodscience The Institute of Culinary Education is on Instagram at @iceculinary -- Level 1 - Emily Duncan Level 2 - Gabrielle Chappel Level 3 - Penny Stankiewicz Director: Vanessa Moreno Editor: Manolo Moreno Director of Photography: Eric Brouse Producer: Tyre Nobles Associate Producer: Blake Jesse Culinary Producer: Carrie Parente Culinary Assistant: Leslie Raney Culinary Assistant: Stevie Stewart Audio: Austin Rumsey Post Production Supervisor: Stephanie Cardone Associate Director, Post Production: Nicole Berg Epicurious Video Team Jonathan Wise Ali Inglese Dan Siegel Rhoda Boone Carolyn Gagnon June Kim Holly Patton Myra Rivera Billy Keenly Still haven’t subscribed to Epicurious on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/epiyoutubesub ABOUT EPICURIOUS Browse thousands of recipes and videos from Bon Appétit, Gourmet, and more. Find inventive cooking ideas, ingredients, and restaurant menus from the world’s largest food archive.