Nov. 05--Stephen Colbert tried to bake a puff pastry with Chicago mathematician Eugenia Cheng to demonstrate the similarities between mathematics and cooking on Wednesday's episode of "The Late Show," but they ended up playing and eating more than baking.
"It's important in math for everything to have the right consistency. They don't tell you that at school," said Cheng, author of the recent book "How to Bake Pi: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics."
Cheng, a senior lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, got Colbert to help her beat butter and fold it into layers for the dessert. Together, they tried to figure out the corresponding math equations on a nearby blackboard.
"Math is about making your own rules up," said Cheng, a pianist who founded the Liederstube program of informal performances at the Fine Arts Building in the Loop.
"But baking is not," Colbert said.
For most of the five-minute segment, Cheng and Colbert joked and dueled with their rolling pins. At the end, they locked arms and ate the pre-made pastries.
"We made something delicious by the power of exponentials!" Cheng exclaimed.
