By Melissa Enaje and Theresa Hynes

The Baking Club at St. Agnes Academic H.S., College Point, spent an “Afternoon in Paris” creating various French desserts.

“I  joined the Baking Club because I wanted to socialize and I thought it was very fun,” said Olivia Vitrano, freshman. “My dream is to become a chef and go to culinary school. It was nice to do something that I love.”

Under the direction of pastry chef and St. Agnes alumna, Elyse Fonseca, the students followed different recipes in order to craft the sweet treats inspired by the French cuisine.

 

Chefs In Training

The pastry chefs in training made pâte à choux which is a light pastry dough consisting of butter, water, flour and eggs.

They used the dough and filled it with a rich, creamy filling and topped it with fresh pastry cream and voila – delicious eclairs.

An afternoon in Paris wouldn’t have been complete without custom made citrus madeleines. Students baked the small sponge cakes with a distinctive shell-like shape and completed the French cookies by dipping them in chocolate.