KoMets compete in classroom version of cupcake wars

STAFF PHOTOS BY KELSEY QUAST

Inspired by the popular television show “Cupcake Wars,” students in the Kasson-Mantorville Culinary Arts & Baking class showed off their best cupcakes in the class’s own version of the competition.

Food and Consumer Sciences (FACS) teacher Janna Carroll-Boldt said they have had the course at Kasson-Mantorville High School for about five years. She said it used to be their Food Science class, which they turned into their baking class.

“Because I believe that baking is a science, we incorporate some of the things we used to do in Food Science, but we incorporate it in a more fun way, like (our version) of ‘Cupcake Wars,’” Carroll-Boldt said. “This is a really enjoyable experience.I used to watch ‘Cupcake Wars’ on TV and I’ve heard other FACS teachers will do this in their classes (also).“

Carroll-Boldt said it is a lot of fun “to let the kids be competitive.”

She explained one of their students, Brynn, came up with the theme of incorporating March Madness as part of their Cupcake Wars competition.

“I told her I’m unsure how it works, but she said, ‘Don’t worry. I know how it all works.’ So she set it all up. She did the team sign-up for the kids,” Carroll-Boldt said. “We introduced the project to them. This is groups of two or three, then each (team) picked a group to represent. Their goal was, how can your cupcakes match the theme and how can your display match your team?”

In terms of the science, Carroll-Boldt explained that throughout the quarter-long class, they start out with the functions of each ingredient.

They go through each element: “‘Why do we need flour?’ ‘Why do we need sugar?’ ‘Why do we need fat?’ ‘Why do we need liquid?’ ‘Why do we need a leavening agent?’” Carroll-Boldt explained. “We’ve talked a lot in this class about gluten development with flour.... (like) do we need a little bit of gluten or do we need a lot of gluten, when we make cupcakes?”

“The kids said we need a little bit of gluten to have nice light and fluffy cupcakes,” Carroll-Boldt said. “Then we talked about the terminology, about creaming together ingredients, like our butter and our sugar. The kids did that when they made their cupcakes and also when they did their frosting as well.”

Boldt said throughout the quarter they have done yeast breads, where they made pizza, pretzels and cinnamon rolls, a topic that “hits patience, because a lot of the recipes take two or three days to make.

“That was a good patience test for them,” Carroll-Boldt said. “We also did pies. We also celebrated ‘Pie Day,’ on 3-14. We invited a math class in to come and eat pie with us. That was a lot of fun. I told the kids they could make any pie they wanted; we had a lot of chocolate cream pie, blueberry pie and banana cream pie. So that was a lot of fun, too.”

She teaches Food and Nutrition Fundamentals throughout the year, as well.

“That’s the first (FACS) class kids will take when they enter KMHS; that teaches knife skills and kitchen safety, also basic nutrition — then the fundamentals of boiling and sauteing,” Carroll-Boldt said. “Once they take that class, they qualify to take any of the upper-level classes (like Culinary Arts & Baking). We also offer Culinary Arts & Nutrition, which is more savory things. We do lots with poultry, meats and some sauces. We also do candy in that class, so that one’s a fun one, too. I have two sections of that (class) next quarter.“

Carroll-Boldt said she is in her seventh year of teaching, after helping her dad with Carroll’s Corn in Rochester following college.

“I also worked at Mayo for a little bit as a concierge and then I was a pastry chef at Hy-Vee before I was a teacher,” she said. “That was the gateway into becoming a teacher.”

Ultimately, Boldt said she wants to use her real-life experiences to help students learn.

“I tell the kids, ‘I was a pastry chef at Hy-Vee. I’m going to teach you what I learned there,’” she said. “It’s more applicable than, ‘Oh, my teacher learned this from a textbook and now they’re regurgitating it.’”

The team of Brystal Mattick, Kinslee Ries and Ava Stevenson was an honorable mention for its Illinois-themed cupcakes.

Coming in first place in the Kasson-Mantorville High School cupcake wars was team Kansas. Pictured left to right: Lanna Gransee, Faith Kanthack, and Camdyn Watkins.

Tied for second place was Michigan and Duke versus St. Johns. Pictured left to right: Owen Abbott, Braeden Brown and Soren Dobb. The three classmates made the Duke versus St. Johns display.

Team Michigan tied for second in the competiton.