A TASTY DONATION
CAS PROJECT
INVESTIGATION
When I was introduced to the CAS project, I had a hard time thinking of projects to work on. After a couple of weeks, I realized that was doing it all wrong. Instead of thinking first on the project I wanted to do, I needed to think about my passions and then combine them to create an amazing project that I would be extremely passionate about; and this is what I did. I combined my passion for cooking and for volunteering and helping others and finally decided on my CAS project. I knew I wanted to do something that involved baking and helping poor families so I started doing some research.
After learning about different desserts, I decided to go for something simple, delicious and with a high demand, brownies. But I didn't want to sell any type of brownie, I wanted to bake the best ones! So I started trying out different recipes, one every week until I was able to design my own.
PREPARATION
planning
trials
PROBLEM
When I finally found the perfect recipe of brownies, I found myself facing another problem--how the batter was placed in the mold. What I did was to put butter and then flour in the mold so that the brownie wouldn't stick, but it was really hard to get it out. When I was able to do it, the brownie would break and as a consequence, I lost a few brownies. This loss affected me because I had to stay up for a few more hours and it was really affecting me in school.
When I finally found the perfect recipe of brownies, I found myself facing another problem--how the batter was placed in the mold. What I did was to put butter and then flour in the mold so that the brownie wouldn't stick, but it was really hard to get it out. When I was able to do it, the brownie would break and as a consequence, I lost a few brownies. This loss affected me because I had to stay up for a few more hours and it was really affecting me in school.
SOLUTION
As I realized that I was facing this problem, I began to think of ways to overcome it. I looked for tips from really good chefs about how to avoid brownies to stick in the mold and found a few. One of them said to put the mold in hot water as soon as it got out of the oven and leave it there for 30 minutes. I did this for one of the brownies and it kind of worked. It worked because I was able to get the brownie out of the mold but the problem was that it still broke. The other solution I found was to put aluminium foil with butter in the mold and then pour the batter on top of this. I tried doing this one and it actually worked perfectly, it was very easy to get the aluminium foil out of the mold and then separating it from the brownie. It also helped me because it was a quicker way to bake, since the mold was not dirty and I could use it over and over again, leaving the brownies and aluminium foil waiting separately. Another benefit of this solution was that the brownies did not break, they would come out perfectly plain.
As I realized that I was facing this problem, I began to think of ways to overcome it. I looked for tips from really good chefs about how to avoid brownies to stick in the mold and found a few. One of them said to put the mold in hot water as soon as it got out of the oven and leave it there for 30 minutes. I did this for one of the brownies and it kind of worked. It worked because I was able to get the brownie out of the mold but the problem was that it still broke. The other solution I found was to put aluminium foil with butter in the mold and then pour the batter on top of this. I tried doing this one and it actually worked perfectly, it was very easy to get the aluminium foil out of the mold and then separating it from the brownie. It also helped me because it was a quicker way to bake, since the mold was not dirty and I could use it over and over again, leaving the brownies and aluminium foil waiting separately. Another benefit of this solution was that the brownies did not break, they would come out perfectly plain.
ACTION
baking
Baking was a long and difficult process. Every two brownies took me about 2 or 2 and a half hour to do. Since I posted the brownie business on Facebook, I received many orders that could be for the next day or for the next week. Since I am still a high school student, managing my schedule was hard due to all of my extracurricular activities and my school work. This is why I only took orders for the next day in the afternoon and if the order was made at night, it would be for the day after the next. This meant that I had a few hours at night to bake these. There were many stages until having a brownie completely done. 1) Doing the batter. 2) Putting aluminium foil and butter in the mold. 3) Putting it in the oven. 4) Wait 40 minutes. 5) Let it cool. 6) Decorate with Nutella frosting and chocolate chips. Imagine doing these for 12 brownies... that's the maximum number I got for one of the selling dates! |
delivering
After all the brownies were done, the delivery part comes in. Each brownie was placed on top of a decorative paper inside a small box for it to be presented in a nicer way. As I posted in Facebook, I would do free delivery in La Molina. So you can imagine how many deliveries I had to make... there was actually only one client who didn't asked for delivery. As I talked to each of the clients to get their address, I would write it down on a document that I created with all the addresses, the dates when ordered and the dates when delivered; this was a great way to organize my sales. Then, the next step would be to talk to my mom and see when she and I were available so that we could take the brownies to each of these addresses; she had to help me because I couldn't drive yet. So, even though it wasn't easy to coordinate times and distances with my clients, it was a really great experience to serve all of them with punctuality and great presentation!
donating
The best part of the project was giving out the donation. After raising almost 700 soles, I was able to go to Makro Supermarket and buy as much food as possible. I deeply thought of each food choice, considering that the family I was donating money to didn't have an oven or a fridge. After buying the donation, I called Nati and announced that I had a surprise for her. My mom and I picked her up from her job and gave her a ride to her house. When we got there, I opened the back door of the car to show her the donations. The look on her face was one I had never seen before. She was so thankful that the words couldn't come out her mouth. We helped her move the donations from the car to her house and when her sons saw the donations, the smiles on their faces was unique. It was a wonderful experience.
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REFLECTION
Doing this project was an unforgettable experience. Not only was I able to explore my passions, but I also got to help people in my community. This project allowed me to become open minded and explore the real world by launching my own brownie business. This business meant that everything needed to be formal and punctual, so this was a constant motivation for me to stay on track and keep pushing myself to perform at the best of my abilities. Baking and delivering the brownies was certainly a different and extraordinary experience, I would have never imagined myself doing this at such a young age. It allowed me to discover my passion for entrepreneurship and the incredible, satisfactory feeling of giving back to the community. After many weeks of sale, I was able to raise about 700 soles, which allowed me to buy a lot of food for the donation. I bought many things, such as, rice, sugar, eggs, tuna, spaghetti, nuts, cookies, oil, treats, and much more. When having everything ready, I called Nati and gave her the surprise of the donation. Her family was extremely thankful, and seeing that made me realize how we need to value what we have and be thankful for it. I started thinking of all the times when I got served a plate of food or somebody gave me a treat, and how little I appreciate. I have become so accustomed to it that the appreciation is slowly being lost. That's why I am so glad I did this project. It allowed me to see and understand my surroundings and gave me the opportunity to contribute to it. I believe I have grown as a person with this project, I now question and appreciate what happens around me and I plan to continue doing it forever. I have adopted a new lifestyle, one that is constantly involved with the people in my community and one that deeply cares about it.