Transcriber: Jenny Lam-Chowdhury Reviewer: Diba Szamosi
Hello everyone,
my name is Emma Doyle
and I'm in the 6th grade.
I want to tell you about my passion,
baking and cake decorating.
I started to get interested
in baking and cake decorating
while watching TV shows
like Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss,
and other baking and decorating challenges.
I was fascinated at what people can do with cakes,
and how amazing and creative
one can be with cake decorating.
At first, I started by just trying
to bake and frost cakes.
They were very messy
and not the most attractive.
But I kept on baking.
My parents could see that I really enjoyed baking,
so they wanted to make sure
I was safe in the kitchen.
My dad taught me how to use a fire extinguisher
(Laughter)
in case of any accidental fires,
and my mom taught me how to work the oven,
and how to handle hot items.
My first serious cake
was a broken leg cake.
My grandma had broken her leg in the previous year,
so on the anniversary of her broken leg,
I made her this cake --
I thought it would make her laugh.
(Laughter)
She adored it.
To make it, I molded rice crispy treats
into the shape of a foot,
and I covered the foot
with strips of my own marshmallow fondant
to make the cast.
The toes are made of fondant, as well.
What is funny is that she kept this foot.
(Laughter)
People might get a shock
if they look in her freezer.
(Laughter)
My journey to cake decorating
has had many successes and failures.
But in the process,
many good learning experiences.
One time, I had to bake mini-cupcakes for a friend.
I'd never made mini-cupcakes before.
In the midst of doing this
I burned over 200 cupcakes!
(Laughter)
before discovering the proper adjustments
in oven temperature and baking time.
I was quite frustrated,
burning batch after batch of cupcakes,
until I realized that I had them in the oven too long,
and the temperature too high.
Once I figured it out, I had great success.
I've learned a lot from cakes.
Baking requires math, measurements,
conversions and calculations.
It also involves science,
the mixing of different ingredients,
and [unclear] and developing of flavors,
and lastly, you need creativity.
I won't lie to you now,
I love to learn, but I hate school.
(Laughter)
I wish schools could be more engaging,
make learning about creating,
and more interactive.
This is what I and many others look like while in school.
(Laughter)
It is boring if all you do at school
is memorizing dates and facts for tests.
And right after school,
we come home to the worst part of all,
homework!
No kid likes homework.
After six or seven hours of school
they're burnt out and want no more.
From my own experience, and others too,
when state testing time comes around
it seems to be the least stressful week
of the whole year!
(Laughter)
Because there's no homework.
To me, it's a kid paradise.
In addition to learning from Youtube videos
and the Internet,
I wanted to get hands-on lessons in cake decorating.
Kids classes are just too easy
and only involve some frosting and sprinkles.
I wanted to challenge myself,
take an adult course where I can learn
new and advance techniques.
My mom and I began to think,
and decided I can handle an adult class.
We got a special permission to take the class,
and I learned a lot.
But at first, it was really intimidating
being in a room full of adult strangers
but before long, they realized my focus
and could see that I can keep up
and make beautiful cakes too.
This the cake that I made at my class.
It had 72 handmade calla lillies on it.
It took me one day to complete
and a week to dry.
But then I got to assemble it at my class!
Before taking the class,
I tried to make the calla lillies on my own.
It took me the same amount of time
to make two unattractive calla lillies,
as it took me to make 72 beautiful calla lillies.
Whenever I'm asked to make a cake,
I try to think of a theme
or something that reflects the person.
Designing a cake allows me to be very creative.
Here are some of the cakes that I've made over the years --
This is a Reese's Pieces Cake,
that I made for my sister's soccer coach, Travis,
for his birthday.
He loves Reese's Pieces!
My good friend Marla really loves shoes!
So I decided to make her a cake
she would love.
I designed the shoe myself
and it's entirely edible,
out of fondant and gum paste.
It is sitting on top of the cake
that is shaped like a shoe box.
One time, I was asked to make
a wedding cake for two chefs.
I had the idea of doing a pot of stew cake
with the vegetables made of sugar, all around it.
I thought it would be important
to add their own recipe
for a happy marriage.
The recipe for a happy marriage
is three cups of kindness,
one gallon of patience,
one cup of encouragement,
two quarts of consideration,
and one tablespoon of faith and trust.
And it serves two for a lifetime.
(Applause)
My really good friend Hanna recently turned 13,
so for her Bar Mitzvah
I made her this cake --
The theme of her party was New York City,
so I decided to incorporate
the New York City skyline,
the Statue of Liberty, a taxi cab,
and many other important points of interest
throughout New York.
I had a lot of fun making these cakes.
I think it'd be great,
if schools in the future will allow kids
to explore what makes them excited and interested.
I think it'll help kids find their passions.
In closing, I would like to say,
cake baking and decorating makes me feel special.
It is a sweet purpose.
I hope you find your journey to purpose.
Thank you.
(Applause)