FROM THE NEWS DESSC | ARTICLE
DESC BAKES
Nicola Barber | Head of Food Preparation and Nutrition, DESC
Wednesday afternoons are a hive of activity in the DESC kitchens, due to the long-awaited return of our very own DESC Bakes ECA. Food and Nutrition is a popular subject at DESC, which hosts students from Key Stage 3 through to GCSE and BTEC. Students of all ages are being challenged to produce a range of sweet and savoury dishes each week. Students attending the ECA relish the opportunity to create dishes that would not form part of the Cooking and Nutrition curriculum at DESC. Each recipe allows for flair and creativity as elements of the dishes can be changed to suit individual taste. Dishes this term have been chosen by students and include cinnamon buns, where students experienced the fermentation process whilst making an enriched bread dough; shaping, forming the dough, along with paying attention to detail to produce a quality product. The dish went down a storm and students’ feedback was ‘the cinnamon buns were better than you know who’s’. Other dishes include homemade calzone and pizza, with the focus on twisting and folding the dough
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FROM THE NEWS DESSC
to form a seal whilst maintaining the shape of the dough. Our puff pastry sausage rolls added a savoury element with students sampling a range of fillings from spicy chicken curry to sausage, onion and herb. I believe the savoury pastries are a popular family treat for many and our DESC bakers have made these several times since. Back to the sweet and an all-time family favourite of lemon drizzle has been revamped with the addition of fresh raspberries and lime juice. Dietary needs are well catered for here at DESC Food and Nutrition and all our recipes are of course Halal and can be easily adapted to suit students with food intolerances or allergies. We have such a diverse community here at DESC and are
keen to share our recipes with the wider DESC community. We also welcome you sharing any family recipes that we could pass on and cook with our students. DESC Bakes ECA runs weekly throughout the year and is open to all students. Term 3 will see the comeback of ‘around the world at DESC’ where students will focus on healthier alternative ingredients; along with knife skills and cooking methods whilst working on multiple components within a dish. Savoury cooks such as ‘healthier’ beef stroganoff, not so ‘butter’ chicken curry, cottage pie and baked chicken katsu will be on the menu. Places are limited so register your interest through our Schools Buddy system.
