TSTC Culinary Arts Students Put to the Baking Test

(WACO, Texas) -Students in Texas State Technical College’s Advanced Pastry Shop class in Waco presented their sweetest treats as part of a final exam on Thursday.

Students spent two days this week making multiple desserts of their choice. Students also had to turn in a portfolio of all their work for the semester, including product pricing, plating diagrams, recipes and other information.

Students took the class this semester in a hybrid format, with labs being done in-person and lectures and quizzes done online, per TSTC’s COVID-19 teaching plan.

“They (the students) persevered through the situation a lot of people would not have been able to,” said Michele Brown, lead instructor of TSTC’s Culinary Arts program.

Mikhaila Hoffman of College Station incorporated a Costa Rican theme for her desserts. The theme honors her father, who was born in the Central American nation and moved to the United States when he was seven.

“I did research, and my abuela (grandmother) does a lot of cooking,” Hoffman said.

Among the desserts she made was a brown sugar spice cake filled with dulce de leche.

Vickie Bradford of Corsicana used vanilla as her theme. And, she used one of her specialties for the final.

“I personally like the pound cake,” she said. “I get pound cake orders a lot at home.”

DeQuan Carter grew up in Barbados but now calls Waco home. He chose a French theme for his desserts.

“This was easy in planning ahead and setting up,” he said. “The hardest part was the action to make the items.”

He is taking away from the class more than a stack of recipes.

“I learned how to bake in general,” Carter said. “I learned to push past problems and fix them. And, I learned to have faith in myself.”

TSTC continues to follow mandatory guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including maintaining social distancing and wear face coverings at all times while on any TSTC campus. 

Registration for the fall semester continues. 

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.