The Great Virginian Baking Show
On Sunday, the best bakers in the school, and possibly the world, gathered with the most expertly and judicially trained judges at Stonefield to satisfy the school’s knead to crown the best baker. The contestants and their dishes were as follows:
Coleman Efird ’28 prepared khachapuri, a delectable bread containing a cheesy dip that is originally from Georgia, and which he learned of during his extensive travels through Eastern Europe.
Ainsley Gill ’28 baked a light and chocolatey chocolate mousse—accompanied, of course, by fresh strawberries and whipped cream, which she presumably picked up during her own European travels through France.
Source: Author
Yashi Gunawardena ’28 baked a very neat and well-flavored grapefruit cheesecake with a perfectly crumbly graham cracker crust containing the cake.
Andrew Moore ’28 baked a multilayered orange and strawberry cake that either looked like the rotunda or an alien saucer.
Lindsay Morgenstein ’28 chose the classic cinnamon roll and baked them to perfection with the light and airy rolls setting the stage for the well-proportioned cinnamon filling and cream cheese icing.
The quality of the food was only matched by the quantity and quality of judges, who even included the finest culinary expert in Boston, who flew down just to judge the competition. The judging was fierce and highly contested, with almost every dish receiving at least one first-place vote and at least one last-place vote. Eventually, the cream of the crop emerged, though just like a hearty bread, the pack clung together with multiple ties (the Oscars could never).
Source: Author
The chocolate mousse took fifth favorite, the rotunda/alien saucer cake and the grapefruit cheesecake tied for third and fourth, and the khachapuri and cinnamon rolls tied for first favorite. That said, very little separated the five dishes by points or quality, and a fun time was had by all in attendance. Unlike the poorly scheduled dodgeball tournament, there was no dough for the winner, just some light bragging rights. Perhaps next time the rest of the school will see fit to compete, but it is doubtful whether or not anyone can top the five inaugural winners.
Author: Andrew Moore ‘28