Beauty in the Bake

Just a few short months ago, the Year 9 Food and Nutrition cohort embarked on a journey into the creative field of food science and baking.

The final brief and exam was to produce a two-tiered cake utilising the skills and crafts they had been working on the previous months. Meringue kisses, elegant chocolate shards, honeycomb chunks, chocolate ganache, tri-coloured butter cream and so much more. Each cake had to have a 'wow' factor element. I expected they'd do well but boy, they did indeed 'wow' us all.

Their first practice cake was at the end of Term 3. Filled (naturally) with first time nerves and a little trepidation, we had half risen cakes, cakes that crumbled, icing that wouldn’t spread, and decorations that melted in our hands. Learning from these normal baking issues, the students then completed their second cake, but this time with new knowledge and additional problem-solving strategies. Cakes become taller, their structures sturdier and chocolate remained intact in their hands. Thank you tempered chocolate!

The next weeks were spent learning and fine tuning the decorations as students considered which techniques to showcase on their final attempt.  'Should I make a chocolate shard with gold dusting?'; 'Should I pipe a tri-coloured meringue?'; 'Should I do something we haven’t yet covered in class - fondant?!' - were just some of the questions that were heard across the kitchen classroom.

It was incredible to watch the students' courage and confidence unfold as they took risks, tried and failed, tried and succeeded and then tried and excelled. What a pleasure it has been to witness these very talented students navigate the design process and produce something so extraordinary. 

I have to commend every student on their team spirit, their ability to approach an issue with grace and calmness, and their hard work in finding alternate (and often better) solutions - sometimes with only minutes to spare! I can't express how very proud I am of their efforts.

Well done young talents...We were most definitely 'wowed!’
 
Mrs E
Food and Nutrition