Tea Thyme

The Promise Culinary School at Elijah's Promise recently completed a 20-week semester and showcased dozens of treats for visitors on Thursday.
ByJennifer Bradshaw  Thursday March 15, 2012

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Photo by:Jennifer Bradshaw

 

More than four months of measuring, chopping, frosting and decorating culminated on Thursday at students of the Promise Culinary School showcased a smorgasbord of selections created during their time at the school.

The Promise Culinary School is a culinary school for adults run by the anti-hunger organization Elijah's Promise, out of their Livingston Avenue offices. Students in the program learn many aspects of working in the culinary industry, such as menu planning, restaurant management, and cooking and baking.

The state-accredited school is a working school, producing bakery items weeky for the Better World Cafe in Highland Park, which is also operated by Elijah's Promise, and Raisin' Dough, a community shared bakery program.

Thursday's culminating event had seven students presenting proposals for restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops that they wanted to pursue, said Elijah's Promise executive director Lisanne Finston.

Over the past six weeks, the students researched and formed their proposals, identifying where they wanted to set up shop, the economic conditions of those areas and why their business would work there, and designed accompanying business plans and menus.

On Thursday, the seven presenting students discussed their theoretical restaurants and presented homemade samples of menu items.

Finston, who sat on a panel of judges that heard the proposals and tasted every sample as part of determining grades for each student, said the event was overall meant for the students to showcase what they have learned in the school and feature their strengths.

While guests sampled dozens of homemade dishes, including cupcakes, pies, fudge brownies, quesadillas, quiche, breads and sandwiches, Anissa Hopkins said her proposal for a spot called "Tea Thyme" would be a cafe with a full bakery menu, including vegan bakery items.

"Vegan (food) has become very popular," she said.

As a result, Hopkins said she often uses almond milk instead of regular milk in her baking, to be able to accomodate people who cannot have dairy.

Hopkins presented apple pies, a spinach and cheese bread, baguettes and carrot cake. The pie, spinach bread and cake are from her own recipes, she said.

Ideally, "Tea Thyme" would open up north, in the Union/Millburn area, where Hopkins in from. There aren't many cafe bakeries in that area, she said.

About 20 people cycled through, tasting the different types of food piled high on two tables and a shelf, as Finston pointed out what each item was.

"It's delicious," she said. "Everything is delicious."

Subscription baking program at Elijah's Promise provides eight weeks of bakery fresh treats. ByJennifer Bradshaw  January 7, 2012

Perhaps one of the difficult things about visiting a bakery is picking out exactly what to bring home. At Raisin' Dough, a team of bakers are crafting parcels of homemade baked goods for their customers, taking steps to ensure that all are satisfied with their choices.

One of the newest endeavors of the New Brunswick nonprofit anti-hunger organization, Raisin' Dough is a community supported bakery that provides weekly orders of baked goods through a subscription cost.

For $150, participants will receive freshly baked goods once a week for eight weeks, prepared the same day by students of the Promise Culinary School.

On Jan. 6, the students were making braided ciabatta bread, whole wheat sandwich loaves and chiffon cakes, topped with little handmade fondant mice.

Every week the bakery offerings are different, but Chef Chrissy Banks said the thing they have in common is their fresh and whole ingredients.

Nothing artificial or super processed is used in the recipes, Banks said. Real butter and real eggs go into the batters.

"It's real food," she said.

Banks said the $150 price works out to about $18.75 per week, a price she said was affordable for baked goods, especially when organic bread in a commercial bakery may start at $6 or $7 per loaf, she said.

The real benefit of the program for the students is experience, Banks said.

In addition to the Raisin' Dough products, the students of Promise Culinary School also make the desserts offered daily at Elijah's Promise's Better World Cafe in Highland Park.

As a result, the students can put on their resume that they have worked in a kitchen, producing products for daily consumption, Banks said.

Banks said that in order to keep demand for baked goods from overtaking the Promise Culinary School, subscriptions for the program will be limited to 25 per eight week session. Currently, the program has about 22 subscribers, she said.

The feedback has been "Overwhelmingly positive," thus far, Banks said.

Anissa Hopkins, of Union, a student in the program, said that they have offered up all sorts of different baked goods for Raisin' Dough since the program's inception - brownies, breads, cakes, cupcakes and chocolate eclairs, to name a few.

Hopkins, who found the program through unemployment while making a career change, said she hopes to eventually open her own bakery.

"I want to be where I can make...everything," she said.