Franklin D. Roosevelt is one of the first presidents that I remember learning about in school. Well, the Roosevelts were more of a unit to me at the time. Now I can’t imagine being unable to distinguish between my Roosevelts.

Many people know Roosevelt for saying, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” In our time, Roosevelt is known for his struggle with polio. We know him for his leadership through the Great Depression, for the New Deal, and the alphabet soup organizations that came out of it. We also know him as the president who led the United States through the majority of World War II.

Despite all of this, the thing that springs to my mind first when I think of President Roosevelt is the Fireside Chat. The Fireside Chats were a series of radio addresses from President Roosevelt to the country. It is an interesting exercise to think about the impact of these chats in their historical context. In the age of connecting with people through things like Twitter, it’s difficult to imagine (for some of us) to imagine the impact hearing the president address you directly.

The cake:

The cake here is chocolate cake, a reference to the dark times of The Great Depression. The cupcake is filled with cherry compote, which can be interpreted as a reference to all of the blood spilled during World War II. If you find that gross or otherwise unpalatable, forget you ever read that. The topping is a marshmallow frosting. It is toasted, a reference to the fireside element of Roosevelt’s chats.

This was a dangerous, dangerous cupcake. I could have eaten far more of them than anyone ever should.