UMass Amherst celebrates sesquicentennial with 150 lb. cake

As the University of Massachusetts Amherst celebrated the 150th anniversary of the signing of its campus charter, head pastry chef Simon Stevenson (pictured) and his team baked up an enormous, 150 lb. cake created in the shape of the university’s iconic Old Chapel. Thousands of students, faculty, staff, alumni and others got a chance to see – and taste – the plus-sized dessert and partake in other various festivities during the school’s Founders Day celebration on April 29.

UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy made the first cut in the giant cake as the crowd sang “Happy Birthday.’’

“Making sure it’s a good rendition of the chapel was a challenge,’’ Stevenson said. “We used a lot of photos to get the proportions right.’’

It took UMass Amherst Dining Services bakers over a week to create the giant pastry.

About 10 sheet cakes, frosted to look like grass, were used to create the edible base of the huge dessert.

Stevenson and his team carved the three-foot reproduction of the Old Chapel from Styrofoam and decorated it with frosting.

A close-up shot of a baker frosting the giant cake.

Thousands came out to celebrate the university’s sesquicentennial.

Bake shop staff April Bent (left) and assistant pastry chef Pamela Adams taking measurements of the cake.

In addition to the giant dessert, the Founders Day celebration also included a “green and sustainable’’ picnic lunch featuring locally produced foods as well as sesquicentennial cupcakes.

Bake shop staff April Bent adds windows to the super-sized dessert reproduction of the Old Chapel.

Assistant pastry chef Pamela Adams (left) and head chef Simon Stevenson working on the cake.

“One hundred and fifty years ago, the university began with four faculty members, four wooden buildings and 34 students,’’ said chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy at the Founders Day celebration. “Today, UMass Amherst is one of the nation’s top public research universities.’’

Stevenson and his crew had to carefully place the birthday cake into the back of a truck, driving at about three miles per hour from their kitchen to the Goodell Hall lawn in order to deliver it intact.

Chef Simon Stevenson (left), chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and members of the Minuteman Marching Band surrounding the cake.