Huntsman Hall was anything but “desserted” Saturday afternoon for Penn Gastronomy Club’s third annual dessert baking competition.
The Penn Gastronomy Club teamed up with Sugar Philly — a food truck near the corner of 38th and Walnut streets which serves high-end baked goods — to organize the competition.
PGC, as Engineering and Wharton junior and club president Nicole Woon said, aims to “bring Penn students food experiences that they wouldn’t get otherwise.”
She added, “This includes anything from discounted dinners to cooking lessons to competitions, like this one.”
In total there were 10 teams competing, with entries ranging from pomegranate s’mores to pop-tarts on a stick to marshmallow fudge cheesecake brownies. Sugar Philly judges and hungry Penn students alike swarmed the tables to pick off the desserts, which were all gone in a matter of minutes.
Some contestants were a part of PGC, but others were just interested in showing off their baking prowess.
“I heard about the competition and was happy that I actually had something to bake for,” said College and Wharton freshman Megan Smith, who is not a member of PGC. “Today I made a triple peanut butter chocolate tart, which I’ve never made before.”
The spectators, though, were possibly even more excited about the baking than the competitors.
“Hands down,” College sophomore and PGC member Emma Biegacki said, “the ‘guayaba y queso’ [guava and cheese] cupcakes were the best. They were really unique, complex and well-made.”
But in the end, the two representatives from Sugar Philly declared their favorites and ultimately the best dessert.
With a lot of constructive criticism and a bit of praise, the pomegranate s’mores, Russian chocolate potato and Oreo cheesecake were named the top three. The Russian chocolate potato reigned supreme and gained the chance of being featured in a Sugar Philly food truck.
However, the fan favorites differed from those of the judges. After the fan votes were counted, the pop-tarts on a stick were crowned as the fan favorite.
“The pop-tarts tasted really good and were also super easy to eat,” Engineering freshman Steffi Maiman said.
“This is the first Penn Gastronomy event that I’ve been to, but how was I going to pass up the opportunity for free food?” she added.
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