Students and faculty filed into the culinary department kitchen to admire the work of some of the most talented aspiring chefs in western New York for the annual Gingerbread House Culinary Class Project competition.

Juniors and seniors of the Culinary Arts class, taught by Dave Caccamise, designed custom gingerbread houses to be judged by the students, faculty and staff at BOCES throughout the day. The contest opened at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with winners announced by the end of the day.

“It’s nice because the whole faculty and staff come down. They get to see what their peers are doing,” Caccamise said.

Caccamise has held the contest for 28 years, including the last 20 years at Erie 2 BOCES. This year, the junior class really impressed him.

Submitted Photos Pictured are Michael Myers, left, and Rhiannon Seminatore, right, who first place among the senior students of the Culinary Arts Gingerbread House competition at Erie 2 BOCES.

“I’m amazed at some of these juniors this year. They were working together and the outcomes are amazing,” Caccamise said. He noted that many of the juniors had never completed a similar project prior to this year’s competition.

Of the junior class, the first place crown went to Fredonia juniors Mikaylee Baliya and Breanne Binkiwitz. Jordan Swanson and Derrick Runge took second place, while Jaylah Lozada and Kingston Hall took third place.

The first place winners for the senior class were Rhiannon Seminatore, of Westfield, and Michael Myers, of Cassadaga Valley. Kiarra Covert, of Westfield, and Morgan Warlikowski, of Brocton, finished second. Third place went to Drew Ernewein, of Westfield.

“The kids get very competitive. They enjoy doing this project,” BOCES Principal Joe Pagan said. “It’s nice for me to see their creativity.”

Holiday cookies were also baked by the students to provide for the faculty and staff as they judged the contest. The gingerbread cookies that sat on a tray near the entryway were all devoured within the first hour of judging.

Shown in this photo are Breanne Binkiwitz, left, and Mikaylee Baliya, right, who won first place among the junior students at Erie 2 BOCES.

“It’s nice for the staff to come down here and judge it, to see what the kids do here, because they don’t see that. They are here doing other work. It’s good to appreciate what the kids are doing,” Pagan said.

The annual Culinary Arts class project, which in its entirety lasts nearly two weeks, requires students to design, bake, and decorate their houses with a recipe for the gingerbread dough and for special icing to hold the house together. The dough is comprised of 7 to 8 cups of unsifted all-purpose flour, two tablespoons and two teaspoons of ground ginger, one tablespoon and one teaspoon of ground cinnamon, two teaspoons each of baking soda and salt, 2.5 cups of sugar, 1.5 cups of (softened) unsalted butter, 1.5 cups of molasses, and half a cup of water. The special icing contains three large egg whites at room temperature, one pound of confectioners’ sugar, one teaspoon of cream of tartar, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

The contest is judged based on five criteria: Use of Materials, Creativity, Overall Appearance, Holiday Spirit, and Teamwork/Individuality. Junior students work in pairs, while senior students are encouraged to work individually, or to pair up if they desire. The project must be edible, with the exception of lights or other items added for decoration.

“It teaches the kids a lot about adversity and how to manage their time, but also how to get along with someone else,” Caccamise said.

However, long before the voting began in the annual contest Tuesday, a champion was already crowned.

Aron Tinsley, a senior from Brocton Central School, was the winner of the contest a year ago from the junior class. As a result, Tinsley entered the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute competition this year as a senior. Caccamise urges his junior winners each year to apply to the contest the following year as seniors.

Earlier this month, the culinary students took a field trip with Tinsley to witness the competition, but they all witnessed more than just their classmate’s participation. Tinsley took first place overall in the contest, along with a $300 prize to accompany the winner’s ribbon.

“When I saw it being loaded on the bus, I said, ‘I think that’s going to win. That’s freaking awesome.’ Sure enough, it won first place,” Pagan said. “I could see it was a winner.”

Tinsley’s project was modeled after the animated Fox television series Bob’s Burgers. Caccamise sat with Tinsley on the bus ride up to Niagara Falls to keep the project steady on the long, bumpy ride.

“Every time the bus hit a bump, bridge, pothole, I was reaching to grab it,” Caccamise said. “Sometimes one wrong movement, it can collapse.”

With the exception of Tinsley, whose house stays in Niagara Falls to be auctioned, the Culinary Arts students are permitted to take their work home with them once the project is graded. Not many second quarter projects come with such a tasty payoff.