Juniors Participate in Grade Bake-Off

 by Rebecca Bazini, SSLI ‘26

Yesterday, the junior representatives hosted a cupcake-baking competition for their grade at the Melville Jewish Center. The competition was set in the synagogue's industrial kitchen, and competing participants had about an hour-and-a-half to bake their cupcakes, which were subsequently tasted and judged by the grade representatives, Sara Rosenthal and Brielle Melzer.

The Junior chefs are hard at work baking (S. Rosenthal)

The representatives spent time buying parve baking supplies, finding a venue, and organizing teams for their grade. Junior representative Rosenthal remarked, “To bake something, we told the teams ahead of time, about a week before, so they'd have time to choose what recipe they wanted to make. Brielle and I provided most of the ingredients, and then any other special ingredients, aside from what we provided, they had to bring themselves.”

The event itself was a huge success. Junior Sam Levenson remarked, “I didn’t have a major role in organizing the event. Ephraim and I were teammates, and we planned to make a delicious apple fruit cake. It had a gooey crust and dense apple, and it was really good!” 

Shayna Barak took home first place for her flourless chocolate cake and espresso mousse. Brian and Yoni won second place with their honey cake, and Anna and Penina scored third. 

“We [Brielle and I] kept running back and forth to my house to get more ingredients and supplies, and it was definitely a success,” stated Rosenthal. Melzer remarked, “It was a success, and everyone in our grade enjoyed the activity!” Levenson concluded with, “My team didn’t win, but we heard a lot of good reviews. The most exciting part was getting to taste-test everyone’s food [at the end].”

Rebecca Bazini is a staff writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since January 2023. Rebecca is currently a senior at the Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: rbazini26@schechterli.org.