At Sahuaro, we are now nearing the end of our 1st semester. As the end approaches, students everywhere prepare and study to prove their academic capabilities, whether it’s final projects, choir concerts, or even bake-offs! It only makes sense for our advanced culinary class to participate in a friendly baking competition as their final project.
The starting date for the actual bake-off was on Monday, December 7th. Students were scheduled to prep/and put together our recipes within the entire week. Although students have been preparing since November. Students carefully choose or create their recipes, deciding the equipment and materials needed, and how they will manage their time in the kitchen. Entire classes will be creating these recipes altogether, making it very important to be safe and timely around the kitchen.
It is a new week, the weather is chilly, and students are getting in their baking moods. On Monday, it was our first day to begin preparation. Mr. Vanuga made sure to get us all of the ingredients needed and set them out as students gathered everything for their recipes. Since it was just the first day, students didn’t actually begin baking, but just weighed out and got measurements of all the ingredients ready in containers. On the second day, Tuesday, culinary students started creating recipes and prepping our different toppings, whether it’s fresh whipped cream, ganache, pistachio cream, jam, or different doughs.
Up until Thursday, the class prepped their desserts as Mr. Aaron ran around the classroom and helped everybody as he does best. They are nearing the actual bake-off, and the students will be judged based on how their recipes came out. Students will have multiple judges: Ms. Allison, Mr. Aaron, Ms. Bradley, Ms. Kelly, as well as Ms. Evie.
Friday is the final day of the bake-off. Students’ recipes should be mostly finished up, and they are expected to plate and finish their desserts within the first 25 minutes of class. For the first grade, students will be graded on the visual representation of their desserts, which is based on a rubric created by Mr. Aaron. When presenting the dessert, all dishes need to be done, and your table needs to be clean. Ms. Allison and Mr. Aaron began judging students in different orders, and once our desserts were graded, we were asked to prepare 8 samples for tasting, as we would have an additional grade for taste.
My partner Lillian and I’s recipe was a berry ganache trifle, which consisted of fresh berries, ganache from scratch, whipped cream, as well as angel food cake. Students were expected to create as much as possible from scratch, with nothing too simple or basic. Cheesecakes were forbidden this year for that reason.
