Habitat for Humanity held an event on Saturday, April 2, called Bake for Humanity. The event was a baking contest where anyone who wanted to enter could have the opportunity to show off their culinary capabilities. Each competitor got their own kitchen in Ytterboe where they could concoct dessert creations with pre- provided ingredients. The tasting began at 6 p.m. and was held in Ytterboe lounge. There were six baking teams who began working at 3 p.m. to wow the judges. The teams included: The Cookie Jar (Dolly Rakotomahenina ’16), The Great EsCake (Andreas Raduege ’18), CakeFace (Claire Smith ’18), Curls for the Win (Megan Grimes ’19), Old Family Recipe (Morgan Dubois ’16) and Jono’s Warm Delights (Kevin Skrip ’16 and Johnathan Lenz ’17). Most of the bakers took off before the judg- ing began, and left their delicious treats to be scrutinized by the public.
The Cookie Jar Team brought forth a classic with a new spin: Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies. The cookie was delightfully crunchy, and the walnut added a tasty salti- ness to the sweet chocolate chips.
Next was The Great EsCake with their incredible Coconut Cake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting. It was spectacular.
KRISTINA BRUST/MANITOU MESSENGER
The cake itself was buttery and flavorful. For those of you who hate coconut flavor- ing, you would have liked this cake anyway. The coconut flavor was very mild, and the creaminess of the cake made it high up on the list of favorites for me.
The Old Family Recipe Brownies were also a show-stopper because of their goo- ey-centers. They didn’t taste as cakey as a brownie, but like some kind of ambrosial almondy goodness. Curls for the Win also
entered a brownie desert, and it had a simi- larly shocking twist. They were filled with cookie dough and shaped like cupcakes! It was straight out of an episode of Cupcake Wars.
CakeFace made the only fruity dessert – a Cherry Cobbler. The classic recipe was delightfully fruity and the crumbles on top gave just enough sweetness to the dish to balance the tart cherry flavor.
Finally, Jono’s Warm Delights craft-
ed Salted Caramel Bars which tasted like melted caramel pancakes. In other words, it tasted like my childhood.
All of the teams put up a worthy effort in the competition, but as we know, in America there can only be one winner. After the public came and enjoyed a healthy dose of sugary cuisine, the votes were cast. Everyone who came paid $3 for a ticket at the entrance, and they put their ticket in the bag under the name of the team that they thought made the best dish. In the end, Andreas Raduege claimed the title of victor with his incredible Coconut Cake. I think it’s fair to say that he earned it.
All proceeds from the event are going to the Rice County Habitat for Humanity. Morgan Dubois, competitor and senior biology major, reflects on the experience, “At first I wasn’t going to sign up, but then I saw that we each got our own cooking space and already provided ingredients, so I decided there wasn’t a reason not to try. I love to bake as a hobby, and this was a really fun opportunity.”
