Sometimes our teachers find recipes on the internet that they'd like to teach to students. However, I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but the internet can't always be trusted. Although a recipe may look great - easy, delicious, quick, or whatever has been touted - sometimes that's a big fat lie.
Therefore, the teachers have to do recipe testing to determine if the internet recipes are legit or not. They also have to analyze whether or not they work for our class format (ex: 8 kids, everyone gets a task, enough yield for taking some home, etc). And if it doesn't, it's back to the drawing board. When you're a teacher who teaches a lot of classes and camps, the recipe testing can get long and laborious.
This summer, Mrs. Brittany (Meadowbrook, AL) and I decided to reach out to some of our Youth Helpers to see if they wanted to help with recipe testing. Given that our Youth Helpers are so young, ages 11-17, we weren't sure if they were up for it. Then I had to go and request food photography along with the recipe testing, and it was pretty much asking for the moon, right?
Enter: Ellie Underwood, Moon Catcher.
We emailed Youth Helper Ellie Underwood and asked her to test one of six recipes for an upcoming "Baking Around the World" course. She chose Irish Soda Bread.
Here's the recipe we gave her: https://www.31daily.com/mini-irish-soda-bread/ and here are the questions we asked her to answer about the recipe:
Did you have to do anything differently than the recipe said or have recommendations for things to do differently? (i.e. needs more flour, use less flavoring, dough would be better refrigerated first, etc.)
How long did it take you to make?
Is there anything in the recipe that would be better to make in advance rather than during class?
How long did it take to bake?
How does it taste?
What did the recipe yield?
Any other tips/notes you have along the way that are not included in the recipe?
That feels like homework during summer break, right? Well, Ellie was up for it. Along with volunteering at four summer camps, Ellie did a stellar job with both recipe testing and photography. Take a look at her recipe testing feedback and pictures below.
Mini Irish Soda Bread
Test – Ellie Underwood
Did you have to do anything differently than the recipe said or have recommendations for things to do differently? (i.e. needs more flour, use less flavoring, dough would be better refrigerated first, etc.)
– Added one cup plus two tablespoons of buttermilk as opposed to one cup (as per recipe suggestions).
How long did it take you to make?
- Twenty minutes prep time plus 20 minutes baking time.
Is there anything in the recipe that would be better to make in advance rather than during class?
- There is no breaking point for partially making in advance.
How long did it take to bake?
- Twenty minutes
How does it taste?
- The raisins did not have an overwhelming taste – this was surprising because there are a lot of raisins. The bread is rather bland – much like a biscuit. I felt like it needed honey, like the recipe recommended, for added flavor. To make these more kid friendly, I would try them without raisins and serve with a sweet sauce OR I would replace the raisins with chocolate chips or a more flavorful berry like blueberries or chopped strawberries.
What did the recipe yield?
- Nine mini loaves.
Any other tips/notes you have along the way that are not included in the recipe?
- These were very simple for a “bread.”
- The flavor is not strong at all so they may need something to go with them; honey, preserves/jam/jelly, chocolate sauce, etc.
Amazing work, right?! Ellie is 14 years old and will be in the 9th grade at Briarwood Christian School in the fall. Pretty impressive!
I asked Ellie *why* she did the recipe testing for us. Here was her response:
"I mainly did it because I am always interested in trying new recipes but never can seem to decide on what new thing to bake, so having it narrowed down to just a few different recipes made it easier for me to pick the one I was most interested in."
Wouldn't she rather be video gaming or sleeping or doing whatever 14 year olds do during the summer these days? Here was her response:
"I get easily bored so to try a new recipe and help with the classes helps me to stay entertained and do one of my New Year’s resolutions which was to help others more this year which you can’t do that if you're sleeping."
Touché , Ellie, touché.
Hey Briarwood, can this girl get some school credit? Maybe for science, math, communication, photography??
She get's an A+ in our book!
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