Anyone have ideas for high school baking club projects?

You could come up with a short list of easy bakes, both sweet and savory, and send a google survey for them to rank what would be fun, as well as add their own ideas, then plan from there.

I’d focus on things that don’t require much specialty equipment or specialty ingredients, so that they can be easily replicated by them at home if they want.

A few things I’ve baked with kids and teens, or have on my “easy” list:

Sweet:
— Wacky / amazon / depression cake (or cupcakes) with chocolate ganache – here is one
Hot milk sponge cake (a recent favorite, and super easy) – as a cake, as cupcakes, or as a swiss roll
— Orange or lemon pound cake or olive oil cake
— Variations on brownies, blondies, other bars – lots of things from Yossi Arefi’s’s books are very easy and crowd-pleasing (see BCOTM here) and Jessie Sheehan’s books are based on the same idea (eg here)
— Upside down cakes with various fruits
— Easy tarts with assorted fillings and press-in flour or cookie crumb crusts – chocolate, lemon, etc

Savory:
— Easy high-yeast, no-knead loaves from Alexandra’s kitchen (ditto focaccia) – lots of variations on the site
— Cheesy quick breads from Dorie or Chetna Makan or the BCOTM Gateaux – several mentioned here
— Gougeres and Pao de Queijo
— Quiches or mini quiches (can use ready storebought crusts or an easy press-in crust)
— Quick biscuits (these cold milk and melted butter ones are lovely and fast)
— Pan pizza with a quick crust

There are several things that cross over between sweet and savory – choux pastry (gougeres vs profiteroles), bread and egg bakes (french toast casserole, savory bread pudding, regular bread pudding), quick breads (cheese bread, banana bread, pumpkin loaf), and so on – could be fun to divide the group and make a sweet and savory version at the same time, or do one in one week and one the following week.

Might help to assess what baking equipment will be needed across the items you are thinking about, and then streamline the choices to reuse the same equipment instead of needing to buy lots of different pans.

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