Cupcake Wars

Last spring my 8th graders had a free day and several of them wanted to watch Cupcake Wars in my classroom.  I had heard of it, but have never watched an entire episode.  Predicting a winner brought on some lively debate and by the end of the episode we were hooked.  Two of my students challenged me next year to let my 8th graders have a Cupcake War of their own.

I thought a lot about it this summer and decided why not.  There is actually no war to speak of.  Instead the contestants are trying to impress the judges with their baking talents.  There are three rounds and the prize for the winner is $10,000.  I had to modify the "war" to fit the timeframe and standards for my class.  I decided that a day of planning, a day of baking and a final day with 30 minutes of decorating would give them the feeling of being in a Cupcake War.  I also gave them parameters of what I would purchase (the cake mix and frosting ingredients).  Anything else they would have to come up with.

I wasn't sure what would happen as we started this adventure.  My current eighth grade group is not the one I would have chosen to start with.  They are a large class (25 students) and have several that struggle to stay on task.  Overall, I was extremely impressed with the outcome.  The groups stayed busy and focused for the most part.  They had a lot of great ideas.  The office staff, Paula, Debbi, Mr. Larson and I were judges.  Meg and I each guessed which group would be the winners.  I am happy to say that I picked it from the beginning.  All of the cupcakes turned out pretty well.  Two of the groups tried something new - melted chocolate center for one and creme brulee frosting for another.  Neither hit the mark, but I was impressed with their effort.

Days like today make it a lot of fun to be a teacher.  We tried a new approach and it worked plus the students learned something in the meantime.  Everyday does not end this way, but it was a good one none the same.