Culinary III and IV classes have been in full speed over the past week, preparing decorated cakes for their Halloween Cake Wars Competition. Over the span of a few days, culinary teacher Matthew Thompson’s students went through over 150 pounds of powdered sugar and over 100 pounds of butter.
Chef Matthew Thompson, who teaches the culinary III and IV classes, saw the rising interest in his students to break away from their tradition of making Christmas-themed cakes. With creative freedom, the students had few guidelines to meet and were allowed to take liberty over the ingredients they used and the designs they crafted. The main criteria were flavor and the visual appeal of their designs.
“They [had] everything they need to make any sort of professional cake awesome,” Thompson said.
Involved in the planning of this competition was collecting all the necessary ingredients, ensuring they would be accessible to students in a timely manner, from basic ingredients, such as flour and butter, to more creative elements, including fondant and colored dye. With six kitchens per class, and six classes that participated in this competition, by the end of the week, Thompson’s classroom was home to 36 cakes.
Every period, a line of judges, ranging from school administration to the Assistant Superintendent Mike Rice, came to watch Thompson’s culinary students display their skills.
“What made [a cake] stand out was just the icing work and the attention to detail. It’s just so challenging,” Thompson said.
Though most groups were able to carry out their original plans for their cake, senior Eliza Markeci’s group struggled to salvage their progress after experiencing multiple setbacks on their Purge-themed cake. One member miscalculated when measuring ingredients, accidentally doubling the cake recipe. To make things worse, when they assembled the cakes, one fell apart.
“My mindset was if we mess up the first day, then it affects all the other days, which is exactly what happened,” Markeci said.
Getting past the difficulty of measuring ingredients and properly coating the cakes in simple syrup – to ensure their lasting freshness – was the most strenuous aspect of the competition for students. However, the opportunity to be creative made up for the difficulties, making the competition enjoyable for students.
“I think decorating has been our favorite part so far because it’s fun to see our designs come to fruition,” senior Jazmine Burton said.
Taking heavy inspiration from televised baking competitions, the event gave students the space to make mistakes and improve.
“I really like the environment. Since I’m not in a restaurant where it’s so serious, where [food is] actually going out to people, if you have questions about something, just ask it, because it’s not like your job is on the line. If you mess up, [they are just] learning opportunities,” Markeci said.
Though this is Thompson’s 10th year leading the culinary program, his students continue to surprise him with their artistic skill and culinary expertise. His favorite part of the contest is seeing the students’ ideas go from a pen and paper to a professionally-crafted cake, exceeding his expectations every time.
“I’m amazed at what they can do…because some of these kids are so talented,” Thompson said. “Every time I come in here, I’m like ‘Oh man, these cakes. How are they going to turn out?’ and then comes cake day, when they get an hour to finish things off, they’re incredible.”
The best looking cake for third period was senior Lilla Mendola and her group’s The Nightmare Before Christmas cake, while senior Marli Hallberg and her group’s Friday the 13th cake stood out in fourth period.
