Baking has always been an important presence in my life. I would often bake with my dad or mom, working together to decode my grandmother’s handwriting on the recipe cards. I always loved the magic of putting something in the oven, and taking out it completely transformed. The first time I really took baking seriously was around 4 years ago. Throughout the summer before 9th grade, I baked over 50 new recipes. Nothing was off the table: from simple cookies to croissants, I wanted to make it all. I used old family recipes and created some of my own recipes. I still bake often, but with school and work, I haven’t been able to as much as I would like to. Now, I am going to pursue baking in college, as I’m going to school for Pastry Arts and business in the fall! I thought that the senior project time would be a great opportunity to explore baking another way. 

The 6 weeks of senior project are an excellent opportunity for me to create my own cookbook. My essential question is: “How can I create accessible recipes for the average person, learn how to recipe test, and design a cookbook?” This project is both creative, as baking is a very inventive process to me, as well as academic, because I want to learn more about the science behind certain ingredients and methods. Although I have been baking for a few years now, I have never really delved into the science related to different ingredients and how they come together. I want to include what I learn in the book in a way that is simple and easy to understand. Another large focus of my recipe development will be working to create recipes that are accessible to the average person who has an average kitchen, average making ability, and average resources. A lot of baking recipes are very complicated and require many unique ingredients or materials that most people don’t have, and I want to create a book with recipes that are the opposite of that.

I plan to spend three days a week recipe testing and doing the actual baking and the other two days I will compile my notes, determine what recipe is the best, and write the final form of recipes from that week. As I move towards the end of the project I will finish up any recipe testing that I have and compile and edit the final book, then send it off and print a few copies. 

Throughout this, I will be talking to a few different people who I know have either created their own cookbooks or have done a lot of recipe testing and food photography and I will use these connections to learn about food science and the process of creating a cookbook and making recipes available to a general audience. 

To reduce food waste, I will be donating any leftover food to centers near me, such as churches and food pantries. I also will be working at Project Hospitality, a soup kitchen and food pantry near my house. 

Along with this project during the 6 weeks of senior project time I will also be taking the 3D art seminar. I’ve been in 3D art class for the past 9 trimesters and I definitely want to continue doing Ceramics during this time as well.

I’m excited to take on this project!