Gallery of Student Work
Baking
The purpose of the cookie unit is to teach the students how to make more complicated or creative recipes than they made in the introductory course. They are encouraged to use a variety of colors, textures, and decorations to create their desired effect. There are 6 categories of cookies and the following pictures show student creations in three of those categories.
Lemon Meringue CookieThis product is an example of a molded cookie. The students desired to make a cookie version of a lemon meringue pie for their project. They used parts of three separate recipes to create a totally new cookie. |
Colorful Swirl CookieThe swirl pattern of this colorful icebox cookie is created by rolling two different colored doughs together into a log and slicing them after a period of refrigeration. The swirl must be evident, as it is in this student example. |
Mini Gingerbread HouseDecorating rolled cookies is an intricate task that requires patience and a steady hand. This mini gingerbread cottage displays the creative decorations of one of the students. |
Running a Bake Shop
The students in the Advanced Baking class run the Raider Sweets and Treats Bake Shop. Once a month the classes create a menu of items to sell to the teachers. They create and test the recipes, choose packaging, determine prices, and either take advance orders or run the bake shop from the classroom.
Cookie Bake Shop |
Blueberry Meringue Lollipop |
Pumpkin Meringue Pie |
In December the product at the Bake Shop is always cookies. The students make a variety of decadent cookies and sell them individually or by the dozen. The bake shop is a good experience for the students because they must interact with customers and display professionalism.
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The bake shop customers look forward to the new menu each month. They especially appreciate the innovative baked goods that the students create. The student who created this lollipop saw something similar in a bakery and challenged himself to create his own version of it.
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Fusion desserts or a new take on a classic are always popular on the bake shop menu. The students who created this pumpkin meringue pie wanted to make a pumpkin pie but they didn't want it to be plain on the top. The addition of the meringue was a creative solution to the problem.
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Independent Study
Every year there are a few students who have successfully completed both the Baking and Advanced Baking courses but still want to advance their baking skills. They sign up for an independent study course that allows them to identify their own needs and guide their own learning. The independent study students are in the classroom during another class but they work on their own with teacher guidance when needed.
Smooth Buttercream Application |
Tiramisu Sandwich Cookie |
Coconut Cream Cookie |
Some students choose to work on a specific skill set that they want to master. For example, the student who decorated this cake wanted to master the application of perfectly smooth buttercream. This was his second cake, which showed significant improvement over his first attempt.
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Other students choose to create new and innovative desserts. This student wanted to take the tiramisu flavor and texture and apply it to a cookie rather than the traditional dessert. She worked tirelessly to find the right texture for the cookie and the correct consistency for the filling so that when someone bit into it the filling didn't push out the end of the cookie.
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Still other students choose an ingredient to focus on. This student created this coconut cream cookie which has a cookie cup made with coconut flour, a custard made with coconut milk in the middle, and toasted coconut on the top. The creation of this product required the student to use multiple new ingredients she had never worked with before.
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All photos on this site are the work of Jill Kalyankar