Settling the score with a bake-off competition

Four Belize City high schools competed this afternoon in a bake off. The students pulled out their aprons and cooking utensils but they had one secret ingredient to incorporate in their recipes. The aroma of freshly baked pastry permeated the YWCA compound, but in the end there could be only one recipe that swayed the palette of the panel of judges. Duane Moody reports.

Duane Moody, Reporting

An exciting Belizean version of Food Network’s Chopped got underway this afternoon at the YWCA Compound. Young culinary chefs from four Belize City educational institutions: Edward P. Yorke High School, Gwen Lizarraga High School, Pallotti High School and the YWCA took park in the first of its kind Wood Dunn Creamy Butter Bake Off. It’s an initiative by the SanCas Group of Companies.

Aisha Rudon, Marketing Manager, SanCas Group

Aisha Rudon

“It is something really positive for our young girls. We have to inspire them and this is something that Santiago Castillo will jump on Duane because we believe in our youths and wherever there is an opportunity for us to empower them we will take it.  Wood Dunn Creamy butter is a traditional thing. It has been in our company for over fifty years. When you think about Wood Dunn Creamy Butter, you think about tradition, you think about home, you think about family; something that we need right now. Wood Dunn is one of our main lines. And we presented the idea to the rep from Australia and he loved it. So I took it and I ran with the idea and I tweaked it and adjust it.”

And after brief introductions, it was to the kitchen to start the baking. Measuring cups, pots, pans and mixers were out and ready to concoct the floury dough and fluffy batters to bring forth their scrumptious heavenly delights. All four pairs had a task ahead of them and an hour and a half to make it happen. The secret ingredient, Wood Dunn’s Creamy Butter…a traditional staple in homes especially during the Christmas time.

A wide variety of delicious pastries including Edward P. Yorke’s nutritious chocolate beet root cake….

Aliea Perez

Aliea Perez, Edward P. Yorke High School

“Our pastry that we are making is a rich and creamy chocolate beet root cake. What inspired us to choose this recipe is that we thought we need something that Belize would never hear or see. So we came up with this recipe that we chose. The beet root in the chocolate cake is very healthy; it has iron so it helps build back your blood and as you can see everybody loves chocolate so we guessed it was a good combination and we chose that cake.”

Duane Moody

“I know you said that you can use it with any butter. But of course using this Wood Dunn Butter is actually going to give it an extra kick.”

Aliea Perez

“Yes, this Wood Dunn Butter is very unique. It makes our cake very creamy for the batter. We tried it before and it came it great.”

Somer Young

…or YWCA’s mango cookie.

Somer Young, YWCA

“We are doing mango cookies and we chose mango cookies because it is mango season and it only comes two times for the year. We just choose it because right now dah mango season and nothing else noh deh bout fi do.”

Ashley Blanco

Hoping to win is also Gwen Lizarraga High School with their version of a cupcake.

Ashley Blanco, Gwen Lizarraga High School

“We do a orange pineapple cup cake with caramel cherry. We di use the butter to make the filing creamy and we are using the orange and strawberry fi decorations.”

….while Pallotti High School girls innovatively placed a cake and a pie into one dessert.

Chelsea Cherrington, Pallotti High School

Chelsea Cherrington

“We are making a raspberry and pineapple frangipane pie. We wanted to do something different; it is a cake batter within a pie shell and it has raspberry and pineapple at the bottom of it.  We are using the butter within the pie crust to make it creamy and soft and we are also using the butter within a cake batter as well, which is the filling for the pie.”

And after the baking, the pastries were put to the test with tasting by a panel of three judges…. Pallotti’s raspberry and pineapple frangipane pie won the top spot.

Aisha Rudon

“There are five categories: originality, creativity, presentation, taste and overall impression. And we have three judges: Misses Carla Thurton, Miss Rachel Roe who is a business partner of the Y and Misses Edilia Zaiden who has a lot of experience—she’s been with our company for forty-six years. We’ve been at the back—George, you, myself—and I see George is sweating right now because it is really cooking out a storm back there. They are baking their hearts out. This is not only about the end product. It is about team work, it is about discipline; it is about responsibility. First prize is five hundred dollars gift certificate for the school; three hundred, two hundred and one hundred for the school the students that win gets a hundred dollar gift certificate each. And each participant along with their teacher receives a wonderful gift packages from the Santiago Castillo group of companies.”

Duane Moody for News Five.

The organizers intend to hold the event annually.