Chesterfield culinary class mixes pastries with math and science

CHESTERFIELD, Va. — Mix education with baking. Sprinkle in some confidence. And cook for two years.

Welcome to the Baking and Pastry Arts School at Chesterfield County Public Schools Career Technical Center, where former teacher of the year, Chef Sarah Jurewicz, has a three-ingredient recipe for success.

"Professionalism, integrity, skills."

The school is designed as an introduction to the principles and techniques used in the preparation of high-quality baked goods and pastries.

Chef Sarah throws in ingredients that include math and science: figuring out a baking temperature or spice amount based on other factors.

"Then suddenly, I'm saying, 'And that's algebra! You solved for X. Well done.' And they're like, 'I did it in my head!'"

WTVR

Students learn to bake breads, pies, cakes and specialty desserts.

On this particular day, it's an apple galette.

"It has this beautiful flaky crust and slices of apples mixed with cinnamon and sugar and nutmeg," explained senior, Brinley Gregory.

Other lessons whisked in include the history of spice roads and the chemical reactions of ingredients.

Brinley loves this kind of learning.

"It's exciting on test days. You don't know what you’re going to make, and so it's hoping you get something you can do. And, yeah, you always get to eat the homework!"

Preheating for a profession, whether it’s in a kitchen or not.

"Putting professionalism and integrity and skills together is the pillar of what the bake shop stands for. And that translates to any career path that they would ever want to go into," said Chef Sarah,

A perfect recipe for Building Better Minds.