I have recently passed the thesis defense and become a doctor. Now that my research lies in the intersection between human-computer interaction (HCI) and information visualization, it makes sense to reimagine HCI as Human-Cake Interaction, in celebrating such a special transition. And this cake should encode the Ph.D. journey into its looks and tastes! Adding up these considerations, I made a huge tiramisu composed of six (!) flavors.

• Sour 🍋 Lemon: When your peer is nominated in an established award.
• Sweet 🍫 Chocolate: When someone recognizes your works.
• Bitter 🍵 Green tea: When your manuscript is rejected for the third time.
• Spicy 🌶 Sichuan pepper: When you learn a lesson in a hard way.
• Salty 🌊 Sea salt and caramel: When you cry in a safe and hidden place.
• Refreshing 🌱 Mint chocolate: When you hang out in a new city during a conference.

In addition, I prepared paper clouds to plug in each slice. I hand wrote different sentences I found important to pass on and signed with a sketched crab 🦀 (as I am Dr. Xie, which sounds like Dr. Crab in Chinese).

The six tiramisu with special flavors.

Me with two slices.

As I cannot feed all of my friends globally, I also made an interactive website (with the help of Gemini) to replicate the experience online.

If you are interested in the recipe, my cakes are based on this recipe but I made “major revisions” in the custard cream and the toppings. An important tip is that Ph.D. students embrace more liquor and stronger espresso. Feel free to reach out for details.