Archive: Around Town

"Every year I try to raise money for The Great American Bake Sale," says Marion Cardwell-Ferrer.  "Last year I used part of the proceeds from my wedding cakes.  This year I thought it would be fun to get the kids involved.  We had camp Monday through Friday.  We prepped all the items for Saturday and sold them at the Lansing Farmers Market."


Cardwell-Fererr is a world class pastry chef who owns and operates Sincredible Pastries in Lansing.  Her wedding cakes have been featured three times in Bride magazine's '50 Most Beautiful Cakes.'  Her 'Vintage Bakeshop' is actually a professional kitchen decked out to look like an old fashioned soda fountain, all decorated in her signature pink.  This summer was her third running baking camps for the Lansing Recreation Department.  The camps met for a week last month with younger kids baking for two hours in the morning, and an older group in the afternoon.  Altogether 28 children participated in the camp.

The Great American Bake Sale was launched five years ago by Share Our Strength, a national organization that raises funds to feed children in need.  The organization works with the culinary industry to hold a number of food-based events to raise money.  As of last year more than 1.3 million people had raised almost $5 million in the bake sale event alone.  Altogether Share Our Strength has raised over $245 million to fight childhood hunger since it was formed in 1984.


Cardwell-Ferrer had set her goal at $500, but then decided to double it.  The kids ended up exceeding even that goal.  Between pre-orders and walk-ins at the Farmer's Market they raised $1,026.82. 

"I completely under-anticipated the support we would receive," she says.  "I sent out pre-order forms.  They trickled in at first, and then they started rolling in."

That support turned out to be more than Ferrer bargained for.  She was up until midnight fulfilling orders a couple of nights in a row, and up until 2am one day, with the help of her two assistants Lisa Cochran and Ally Veaner.  Many of the older kids also stayed late into the day to help get everything ready.

"We were in mass production mode," says Cardwell-Ferrer.  "It was like positions I've worked in at hotels and a cruise ship.  It was a little smaller scale, but they got that feeling of what it is like."

The camps weren't all work and no play.  The kids made a video singing their own lyrics to the tune of KC and the Sunshine Band's 'That's The way I Like It.'  Ferrer wants to create a music video of the clips to share.  After filming there was a dance party.  And at the beginning of the week kids picked their own nicknames. 

"That was hysterical," Cardwell-Ferrer says.  "I said it needs to be related to baking in some way.  One kid said he wanted to be called 'Christmas Tree.'  Another wanted to be 'Bob.'  He loved being called Bob.  It was really fun to see them light up.  They had nicknames like Strudel, and Snickers, Cupcake, and Cookie.  They were really creative."

A typical camp session started with a recipe and washing hands.  They separated into two groups who would begin baking the recipes for the day.  The first day the younger kids only got through one recipe, but the older kids were able to bake two or three.  Some of the batter was prepared, but not cooked until Friday so they would be extra fresh for the sale on Saturday.  Each day finished with cleanup.

They took a test on the last day of camp, and the one with the highest score won a prize.  The winner was Anna (Cinnamon) Lewis with nine and a half out of ten correct.  George (Doodle-Loo) Lewis was the runner up with nine right.

"I am always impressed with how much they learn.  Most of the kids did really well."

Ferrer says she is planning baking camp for next year.  Each year she likes to do something different, and she says that the mass production approach was tiring, especially to the smaller kids.  So she is planning something more 'hands on' and creative for next year.

"They will have recipes," she says.  "Most importantly they come away with the knowledge that baking is chemistry.  They learn the proper way to measure, and why you have to follow directions.  In cooking you can put in a pinch of this and a pinch or that, but you can't really do that with baking.  You have leaveners and chemicals that are sensitive (to proportions of ingredients).  And they are proud of the things that they created, and they get to take some of them home with them, too."

She also says that she enjoys offering the classes through the Lansing Recreation Program.

"They've been great," she says.  "I approached them three years ago, and we took it from there.  It's been really nice because it has connected me to the whole Lansing community through parents in a bigger way than I had imagined."

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