Kids cook up fun in culinary camp

They may not be Rachael or Emeril just yet, but the young wannabe chefs who attended UD’s Kids Culinary Camp this summer brought a fair amount of experience and plenty of enthusiasm to the campus’s Vita Nova kitchen.

Many had tried their spoons, mixers and spatulas cooking at home and came to the camp ready to move on and learn sauce-making and baking skills from a professional. Some had enjoyed the experience so much that they repeated the camp; one student, Greg, enrolled for his third summer.

Debbie Ellingsworth, instructor in the Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management (HRIM) and pastry chef, is the master chef in charge of the annual day camp. She was assisted this year by her sous chef, HRIM student Emanuel Beneby, CHEP ’08. Ellingsworth teaches the kids the basics of hygiene, nutrition and safety before they start the actual cooking, where the emphasis is on teamwork as they develop their skills.

On the first day of each weeklong camp, Ellingsworth asks the youngsters what they would like to cook for the rest of the week and tries to include as many of their preferences as possible. The campers are very “food savvy,” she says, and their choices range from tortellini to key lime pie and crème brulée.

During the first of three sessions this summer—two for children ages 10-13 and one for 14- to 17-year-olds—the dozen students were divided into teams. On one typical day, campers spent part of the morning preparing their lunch of macaroni and cheese and shrimp kabobs with kielbasa, peppers and mushrooms. Then, the whole group participated in a massive cookie bake, rolling out dough, cutting it into assorted shapes and generously decorating with a variety of sprinkles.

On the last day of camp, parents are invited to lunch to sample the dishes their children have prepared. Veggie and meat lasagna, salad and cupcakes were on the menu for the finale of this year’s first session.

The campers express a variety of reasons for wanting to attend the program. Jack, 12, says he at first learned to cook eggs and pasta at home and now likes to cook for friends. Mave, 10, says she likes working in a big, real kitchen, while 11-year-old Caroline says her mother taught her to cook and now she has progressed to trying out recipes on her own. Thomas says he’s been cooking for 10 years—since he was 3—and especially likes to cook his family’s favorite Italian dishes and “all kinds of good stuff.”

In the third camp session, for older teens, six of the campers were part of the federally funded GEAR-UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) in Delaware high schools. The University’s Delaware Center for Teacher Education has worked with schools throughout the state to improve GEAR-UP students’ chances of enrolling and succeeding in college. As an incentive to achieve, for students who have maintained at least a 2.5 grade point average, GEAR-UP paid the $175 Culinary Camp tuition.

A graduate of UD in psychology, Ellingsworth worked in the mental health field for many years, and psychology still comes in handy, she says. When she was in her 30s, she decided on a career change, graduated from Baltimore International Culinary College and joined the UD staff in 1997. She teaches an HRIM introductory cooking course for freshmen and a fine-dining cooking course for seniors in which, she says, “We fix everything from scratch.”

—Sue Moncure

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour 2 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar 4 fluid ounces

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder vegetable oil (not olive)

1 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup hot coffee

2 teaspoons baking soda 1 cup whole milk

¼ teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat convection oven to 300 degrees or conventional oven to 350 degrees.
   
   
2. Fill mini cupcake pan with cupcake liners.-
   
   
3. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.
   
   
4. Place these dry ingredients into the mixer bowl of a tabletop mixer.
   
   
5. In the same large bowl, place the eggs and whisk them together.
   
   
6. Whisk in the following ingredients in the order given: oil, coffee, milk and vanilla extract.
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7. Get a rubber spatula and take the liquids to the mixer.
   
   
8. Turn the mixer on low speed and slowly pour in the liquid ingredients. When done, stop the machine, lower the bowl and scrape down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula.
   
   
9. Elevate the bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, then stop the machine and scrape down the sides one more time.
   
   
10. Using a small ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake liner 2/3-full with batter.
    
    
11. Place the pan into the oven on a middle rack and bake for 10 minutes.
    
    
12. Check for doneness by gently touching the top center of a cupcake. It should spring back when done. If not done, bake in 2-minute intervals until done. Cool completely before frosting the cupcakes with your favorite frosting.