Nora’s Ovenworks held its second annual kids baking competition, giving children from around Westchester County a chance to show off their skills in a contest amongst their peers.
The competition took place on Dec. 9 at Nora’s Ovenworks, a bakery that specializes in customized cakes, located at 64 Halstead Ave. in Harrison.
Nora Brunnett, owner of Nora’s Ovenworks, said she was inspired to start the competition after seeing her sister participate in a baking competition, and receiving the suggestion from her students.
“I work with a lot of kids, and everyone [was] coming in and saying, ‘You should do a baking competition,’” Brunnett told the Review.
The contestants ranged from first-graders to seventh-graders, and included students from the kids baking classes held at Nora’s Ovenworks, as well as students from outside the community.
“I thought that it would be nice [for the] kids to kind of showcase what they are able to do all by themselves, because oftentimes we as adults and parents tend to take over,” Brunnett said.
The children were instructed to turn in their recipes a week prior to the competition, and on the day of, they were given an hour to create their submissions.
Brunnett said that the first baker began at 9 a.m., and that children were coming throughout the entire day.
“At one point, we had six kids in the kitchen baking,” she said. “It was kind of a continuous flow.”
Some of the entries included chocolate chip cookies, a lemon sour cream cake, shortbread cookies, and chocolate cupcakes.
After the participants were finished, their dishes were presented to a panel of three judges: Harrison Mayor Ron Belmont; Alex DeBourcy, Mrs. New York City; and Chef Stella Caruso, who teaches baking classes at Nora’s Ovenworks.
“I chose Mr. Belmont because… he’s really great with kids,” Brunnett said. “He’s kind of a feel-good mayor, he’s very community-oriented, so I really liked that piece and wanted to bring it back to the bakery.”
Brunnett explained she invited Debourcy back to be a judge for similar reasons.
“[Debourcy’s] local, and I know that she works with the community a lot,” Brunnett said.
Caruso said when judging the competition, she looked at presentation, execution, texture, and flavor of the baked goods.
The grand prize winner of the competition was sixth-grader Revha Menon, a resident of White Plains, who created a lemon blueberry bundt crumb cake.
Second place went to Aidan Grant, a fourth-grader who made a chocolate cherry muffin.
Grant is one of Brunnett’s regular students.
“[Grant’s] pretty proud of himself, and I was pretty impressed too,” Brunnett said.
Brunnett said his recipe was “quite intense,” and that although she didn’t get a chance to try it, it smelled amazing.
Another participant who placed high in the competition was Greta Friedman, of Scarsdale.
Lana Friedman, Greta Friedman’s mother, had brought her to participate in the competition for the second year.
“[Greta’s] favorite part was to be alone in the competition and do everything by herself,” Lana Friedman said. “To be here by herself, and be able to create what she created was great. She really enjoyed every moment of it.”
Caruso explained that for her, the most rewarding part of the competition was being able to engage with the community.
“It was just a really wonderful community thing, where we saw these kids really light up,” she said.
This year’s competition saw 16 contestants, compared to nine from last year, and because of the growing response, Brunnett intends to hold the competition next year.
“This event is one of my favorite events, it really gives me a chance to see what the kids have learned and how they put it into action,” Brunnett said. “It was a proud moment for me.”
