Young chefs turn cupcakes into Thanksgiving favorites
CRANBERRY TWP — The Brush Creek Room in the Cranberry Township Municipal Center turned into into a Thanksgiving kitchen Saturday morning.
Debbi Dee, co-owner of Bakers Dozen Academy, and her assistant, Kelly Boyles, taught 13 girls and one mother how to bake and decorate cupcakes to look like facsimiles of holiday side dishes — such as mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole and peas and carrots.
Using kits that included colored fondant, parchment paper and icing, the budding cake decorators donned aprons and crafted their creations. They also received lessons in how to use a mixer and spatulas.
To turn cupcakes into casseroles, Dee instructed her charges on how to stir the frosting into a workable consistency, praised the virtues of parchment paper, quizzed them on their food preferences, and passed out decorating tips, marshmallows and brown sugar in equal measure.
“Cover the cupcake, use all the icing,” Dee urged. “We’re going to spread it. That’s another baking term. We’re going to spread it back and forth.
“Here’s a baking secret: If you have crumbs on your knife, you’re spreading too hard. Use all of the icing,” she said. “If you have crumbs, cover them with icing. Icing is the glue.”
When adding the marshmallows to complete the casserole illusion, Dee told her students to flatten the marshmallows to simulate them melting slightly in the oven. Sprinkling brown sugar atop the finished product completed the illusion.
White icing became mashed potatoes, a squared off piece of yellow fondant icing became a pat of butter on top, and the gravy didn’t come from a gravy boat, but instead was a dollop from a bottle of caramel syrup.
When creating peas and carrots, the young chefs could either chop fondant into squared-off pieces or make tiny balls of the icing to top their cupcakes.
“You’re making me hungry and I didn’t have breakfast,” said Dee while overseeing her pupils.
Cathie Jordan of Cranberry Township was taking the class, sponsored by the Cranberry Township Parks and Recreation Department, with her 12-year-old daughter Emily.
“She loves to bake. I asked her if she wanted to go. She said yes,” said Jordan. “I said, ‘I’m going to do it with you so we can spend some time together.’”
“Usually she does the decorating. I do the baking,” said Emily. “I hope to learn some stuff today.”
As the class reached the halfway point, Emily said, “I learned how to work with fondant, cutting it and making it into shapes.”
“Our young chefs are doing a fantastic job expressing their creativity while whipping up loads of fun,” said Dee.
And the best part, she added, is that her students will be able to take their creations home to their families.
Bakers Dozen Academy takes its program to schools, day care centers and birthday parties, and also teaches adult classes. The academy is co-owned by Debbi Dee and Teri Koms.
The academy will return to the municipal building from 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 10 for a “Parents Drop and Shop” event where young chefs, ages 6 and up, will mix, measure and make their own Christmas thumbprint cookies.
To register, visit cranberrytownship.org/register.
This article was updated Nov. 28 to reflect that Debbi Dee and Teri Koms are co-owners of Bakers Dozen Academy.
