Dessert Club members will compete in a decorating showdown in their first virtual Halloween Baking Contest on Oct. 30. 

“It’s more of a chill club rather than a serious club,” vice president and senior Tu-Trinh Nguyen said. 

 The officers are required to provide baked or store-bought treats for club members. Members are free to bring in desserts if they choose.

Fruity Pebbles Rice Krispies treats are one of the most notable desserts to be brought in and eaten, but the club’s main objective is to organize bake sales to fundraise for charities.

“Since COVID has happened, we’ve had to readjust a little,” co-president and junior Abigail Goldenberg said. “We decided to sell some T-shirts instead.” 

The T-shirts were sold on the website Bonfire, a custom apparel website. There were three colored shirts to choose from: one blue-jean, one chambray and the other white. The shirts sold for $25 in all sizes with a design of three aligned iced cupcakes and the hashtag #makebellairethickagain. Normally, the dues collected in the club’s fundraiser would be used to pay for desserts to support teachers and nursing homes, but the Dessert Club decided to add a sweet twist.

The club does not specialize in baking competitions, but since school turned virtual, the Dessert Club wanted to stay connected, especially with their first-year members.            

“We’ve actually never done baking contests within the Dessert Club,” Goldenberg said. “But we wanted to provide a fun, interactive part of the club since it’s virtual.” 

Members can sign up for the Halloween Baking Contest by filling out a google form, choosing either the 12:30 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. time slot. 

The dessert theme for the contest is chocolate-dipped Oreos, but members can select a unique decorative add-on of their choice to spice up their treat. 

“Abigail is our main dessert baker and she probably has a couple of ideas of what we want to do,” Historian and junior Molly Vestal said. “I think we’ll probably find some online because we want to have some inclusive recipes like gluten-free and vegan recipes, and we really don’t know how to make good recipes that are gluten-free and vegan.” 

The recipe for the chocolate-dipped Oreos will be sent a week or two prior to the contest to leave enough time for club members to purchase supplies. Contestants will be judged strictly on appearance as taste-testing is virtually impossible. 

Members will join the live Zoom call session to commence the bake-off. Another google form will be created to tally up the responses for the judging process. A poll will show the pictures of the desserts, and members will be asked to rank their top three picks.

The money collected from the T-shirts will be used to buy prizes for the top three winners. Prizes are not finalized, but the club officers are leaning toward the first place winner winning a free T-shirt or a $15 gift card, Second place receiving a $10 gift card, and third place receiving a $5 gift card. The gift cards can be redeemed at either Chick-fil-a or Target. 

“Even though it’s virtual, I think it’s going to be successful,” Goldenberg said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”