This baking workshop was a hands-on skill-building opportunity led by an experienced and talented young pastry chef, Donna Banfield, who highlighted the creative and flavourful aspects of baking. I was thrilled to take part in these sessions as baking isn’t just a hobby to me; it’s something I truly enjoy and look forward to.
From the very first session, I felt both excited and inspired. The chef demonstrated exceptional enterprise and a genuine passion for baking. Her clear instructions and engaging teaching style created an excellent learning environment. She offered helpful tips and encouraged me every step of the way. It was an interactive, creative and delicious way to learn.
One of the highlights for me was decorating cupcakes; focusing on frosting techniques, piping and fondant. By the end of the workshop, I not only improved my baking skills but also gained confidence and deeper insight into baking.
It was such an enriching and inspiring time that strengthened my love for baking, and I can’t wait to keep practising what I’ve learnt.
Sienna G Year 7
For the past three weeks on a Wednesday, after school, I had the great opportunity to attend a baking club which gave me introductory skills to baking. I really enjoyed learning new skills, making new friends and becoming more confident with baking. It was run by Donna, who is the director of ‘A Slice of Nice’ and she demonstrated different techniques and methods to us when we were baking our cakes each week.
In the first week, we made rainbow vanilla cupcakes. We added food colouring to the batter to give the cakes a range of different bright colours. Layering each colour carefully into the cupcake liners created a beautiful rainbow effect once baked. It was so satisfying to see the colourful swirls when we took that first bite! It was a creative, hands-on experience that made baking even more enjoyable. During the second week, we were tasked with making a rich, delicious chocolate cake. I used a mix of cocoa powder and chocolate chips to give the cake a deep flavour. The whole process, from measuring ingredients to mixing them together, was both relaxing and exciting. In our final week of baking, Donna kindly made us some vanilla cupcakes for us to decorate with the colour of icing of our choice as well as a range of different sprinkles and toppings. I neatly swirled bright pink icing onto my cakes and finished off with some gold, star shaped sprinkles. They were delicious!
In conclusion, I really enjoyed the experience and would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to learn a new skill. Throughout the course, we all worked together in the kitchen and became great friends! Donna was a great teacher and helped me so much with my baking skills. It’s a shame it’s already over!
Amy H Year 8
Hello my name is Jenshi and I’m writing about my time at A Slice of Nice programme. It was for three weeks and we came every Wednesday to cook and bake yummy desserts. We made vanilla cupcakes, brownies and we made such a wonderful decoration on cupcakes. It was so much fun and I really enjoyed it. This has also helped me with my baking skills and I have learned so much.
Jenshi P Year 7
