BCA’s Academy of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Administration(ACAHA) hosted its 9th annual chocolate competition on March 23, 2023. This came just four months after the passing of Chef John Branda, one of BCA’s longest-serving and most beloved teachers.

“We were lucky to have met Chef J,” Daniela Rey, a sophomore in ACAHA states. “His passing brought our culinary family closer together and invigorated our spirits to carry on his legacy.”

Since January, freshmen were tasked to help the juniors and seniors prepare for BCA’s most envied tradition. They assisted the upperclassmen, who worked mostly in pairs, practice and plan all kinds of complex, advanced techniques to elevate their cakes. 

For juniors, it was their first time planning, baking, and decorating their own cake. As freshmen and sophomores, the juniors were obligated to help the upperclassmen prepare their cakes. But now as juniors, they explored newfound freedom and creativity, as well as roadblocks and struggles. 

“We had to entirely scrape the frosting off the middle tier of the cake to redesign parts,” Jisae Son, a junior from ACAHA said. She furthers that the process required an immense amount of work and dedication, as she used all of her free time during and after school in the kitchen, to work on her cake. 

However, the event brought together more than just the culinary academy. From BCA ACAHA alumni, the top chefs in New Jersey, the AVPA Academy, to Mr. Lang’s video production crew, the chocolate competition showcased BCAs’ brightest minds. 

The AVPA academy played a big role in organizing the competition, creating a video of students preparing their cakes; designing tags for the cakes, judges, and teachers; and creating a program inspired by Chef J’s favorite musician, Frank Sinatra. “It’s AVPA’s way of repaying ACAHA for helping us with the haunted mansion,” remarks Sofiya Tkach, a senior AVPA. 

After months of unparalleled effort by students, competitors were divided into the junior and senior divisions, with awards for the top three cakes in each division. But this year, instead of doing category awards (ie. Best in Taste, Best Collaboration with AEDT, Extraordinary Effort), BCA presented a grand prize for the best cake out of both divisions. The 2023 Chocolate Competition winners included: 

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Juniors:

First Place Winner: Zoe Gossa and Sofia Vergara (“Winter Bliss”)

Second Place Winner: Jisae Son and Sylvia Zak (“Aloha Paradise”) 

Third Place Winner: Bryan Ginsberg and Rachel Yang (“Alice’s Wonderland) and Stevie Schanberg and Ella Ehrlich (“Fly Me to the Moon”)

Seniors:

First Place Winner: Emily Jin and Soyun Kim (“Beauty and the Bee-ast”)

Second Place Winner:  Irina Wong and Terri Park (“Barbie’s Chocolate Vacation”) 

Third Place Winner: Katie Paul and Alexis Oh (“Love Story”)  

Grand Prize: Katelyn Park (“New York, New York”)

The chocolate competition was a major learning curve for the freshmen and sophomores who not only assisted in the cake-making process but also helped taste it. After the final rounds of judging, students as well as parents were able to walk around to devour slices of the cake. From praline coffee buttercream to a raspberry compote, Caleb Chan, an ACAHA sophomore noted, “The cakes were amazing; it’s incredible to think that most ACAHA students didn’t know how to bake a cake three or four years ago, and now they’re creating art with it.” 

Senior first-place winner Emily Jin recalled a large improvement in her strategy stating, “We revised our decoration technique from acetate buttercream, which was quite messy and not as vibrant, to fondant.” 

Despite missing nearly two years of kitchen experience, the seniors made the best out of what resources they had and the people they had around them. “It was the first independent experience we had,” Isabella Garcia, a senior in ACAHA mentioned. “For all of our previous projects, Chef J or Chef T always held our hand through it. But for the Chocolate Competition, we had to really step it up and figure everything out by ourselves. We learned, grew, and improved a lot!” 

All in all, congratulations to all the competitors in BCA’s 9th annual Chocolate Competition, and good luck to all of the sophomores and juniors that are competing next year!