Kids Camps Got Students in the Kitchen Over Their Winter Break

We had a blast this past week with two kids & teen cooking camps!
Our first camp, was a two-day cake decorating camp.  On the first day students learned how to crumb coat and level their cake, various borders and shapes with their decorating kit and finished a simple, white buttercream cake as their practice version.  On the second day, the students learned how to create a transfer for more detailed designs and mix up colors.  They then got to work decorating their cake for the big competition.  The students were all so creative with their designs and had a great time!

For the rest of the week 15 students participated in a Master Chef Junior Camp.  The camp would culminate in a Master Chef Competition with secret ingredients for an appetizer, entree and dessert.  We wanted to give the students some tools that they could utilize for the competition.  The first day students made a tomato bruschetta appetizer with polenta and then we turned to desserts.  We made a honey lavender panna cotta and a chocolate souffle.  While we waited for the souffles to bake, we had a tasting competition – red vs. black teams.  Take away the sense of sight and a sweet potato is very hard to identify!
Day two, we focused on knife skills and students learned to supreme an orange, peel an apple with a knife and make a perfect mirepoix with a 1/2″ dice.  Students made a potato leek soup, baked caramelized chicken with roasted sweet potatoes and a gastrique sauce.
Day three – competition day!  Students arrived early and were so EXCITED to begin.  They toured the pantry and got into teams
ready to see their secret ingredients: appetizer: sweet potato & ground beef, entree: pork tenderloin, pomegranate & cauliflower, dessert: ginger & apples. All the students did an amazing job preparing their dishes and working in their teams. At 4pm parents arrived and judging began. Team #dreamteam took the competition, just barely edging out the other two teams.