Jody Stevens spends most of her time trying to make people happy. She does it with cake, specializing in decadent desserts that are vegan, gluten free and organic. While she knows that her Jodycakes creations can bring a bit of sunshine into the lives of her customers, she’s also keenly aware that cake can’t cut through every cloudy day. That’s why, for the third year, Stevens is organizing the Houston branch of The Depressed Cake Shop pop-up.
The pop-up runs one day only, this Sunday, October 9, from 2 to 5 pm, at Paulie’s (1834 Westheimer). Pastry chefs from across the city will be bringing cakes, cookies, brownies and more. All of the treats on offer will be decked out in shades of black and gray in recognition of the fact that, for some, the world isn’t always all rainbows and sunshine, even when cake is involved.
Stevens has enlisted the help of many of the city’s best bakers, both professional and amateur, to bring an array of one-of-a-kind desserts for the pop-up. While the home bakers’ goods will be offered for sale by the piece, the event also features a raffle, with winners taking home custom creations from the event’s professional participants. This year’s pastry chef lineup includes:
• Julia Doran – Treadsack Group
• Alyssa Dole – Coltivare/Revival
• Karla Espinosa – Hugo’s/Backstreet/Caracol
• Samantha Mendoza – Killen’s
• Johnny Wesley – Gr8 Plate Hospitality
• Susan Molzan – Cherry Pie Hospitality
• Pastry team at Phoenicia
• Jody Stevens – jodycakes
• Caroline Ramirez – Triniti
• Jillian Bartolome (formerly of Common Bond)
• and many more
Stevens first learned of the Depressed Cake Shop – launched by UK baker Emma Thomas – through a CNN report from Kat Kinsman, who recently launched a campaign called Chefs with Issues to help bring light to the mental and emotional struggles of workers in the food and beverage industry. The story touched Stevens, whose life has been touched by depression since she was a child, and she quickly jumped on board with the first Houston Depressed Cake Shop pop-up in 2013. This year, the pop-up benefits The Montrose Center and NAMI Greater Houston Chapter (National Alliance for Mental Illness).
“The Montrose Center is very near and dear to my heart because of their involvement within our inner city community – their outreach and staff are absolutely some of the best around,” says Stevens. Stevens chose to include NAMI in the pop-up this year as well, after learning of their mission of education and advocacy regarding mental illness.
“I grew up with a father who was severely affected with clinical depression spurred by PTSD from Vietnam. We never really talked about it … there were just times that a heavy, gray cloud loomed over our household,” Stevens explained in a note penned the first year of the Houston branch of the DCS. “One of the worst moments in my life, was having him call me while he was on a business trip to tell me how much he loved me and to take care of my mother … It was his intention that evening to end his own life. I’m not sure what stopped him but I am grateful that after that incident he sought help.”
Stevens also lost a grandfather to suicide and spent many years in a relationship with someone who suffered from serious depression, to the point that she sometimes feared for his life. Stevens tells these stories in hopes of shining a light on suffering that often occurs in darkness, both in terms of the shadows depression casts on those who struggle under its burdens, and in terms of the stigma associated with the illness. Far too many suffer silently, and far too few truly understand depression.
“I find that there is such a stigma attached to it that it gets swept under the carpet,” says Stevens. “Those who don’t understand the severity of such an illness sometimes say things like ‘I don’t understand why you can’t just snap out of it’ or ‘Come on, it can’t be that bad … cheer up.’ Those who suffer really can’t just snap out of it or cheer up … it is a real thing. I have seen it firsthand.”
This Sunday, help Stevens bring issues of depression out of the shadows and lend your support to a couple of groups who have made that their mission. The cakes may be gray, but every cloudy cupcake sold just may help to lift someone out of the darkness. And did I mention cake?