Due to the quarantine, many students are stressed and the extra time on their hands is being spent worrying. A good way to spend time and relieve tension is to make use of the kitchen. Check out this compilation of student-tested recipes. 

Caroline Mascardo ’22:

While in quarantine, sophomore Caroline Mascardo got to work making decadent sweets. She tested the spectrum of curds and creamy dishes. 

Mascardo made a vanilla crème brûlée. Crème brûlée is a creamy custard topped with a hard caramelized sugar. The perfect thing about this New York Times Cooking recipe is it only calls for five ingredients – cream, eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. The Times recipe makes four servings and the total time needed is one hour. If you’re looking for an interesting and different dessert, this one’s for you.

A meringue is whipped egg whites and sugar, it is an ingredient used in classic dishes like baked Alaska and macarons. Mascardo used it to make cookies. Sugar Spun Run has a well-reviewed meringue cookie recipe that is sure to satisfy sweet cravings. It is another simple ingredient recipe, calling for egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla. While this recipe only takes 20 minutes to prep, it takes two hours to bake. It yields 80 cookies, making it perfect for large gatherings or a family trapped in their house. 

Following another Ina Garten recipe from Food Network, Mascardo made lemon curd. She also made lime and orange curd. The lemon curd is an easy level recipe yielding only three servings taking only 30 minutes. This recipe does call for a food processor for the best results.

The lime curd recipe is also well-reviewed, this time from All Recipes. The ingredients are the same par subbing the lemon items with lime. For the best tasting curd, use fresh limes. This recipe is a little less detailed and might be better for someone who is a little more advanced in the kitchen.

To conclude the trio of curds, Mascardo made orange curd. This dessert calls for many more ingredients, including lemon zest. The curd requires lots of attention, needing a double boiler and constant stirring. 

For the final act of Mascardo’s baking extravaganza, she made an angel food cake, recipe courtesy of Sally’s Baking Addiction. Using only six ingredients, this recipe is self-proclaimed as perfect. It is light and airy. Angel food cake is a low fat cake containing mostly egg whites, cake flour, and sugar. The recipe provides a full video tutorial for those whose hands get too messy to scroll through the web page. 

“My favorite dessert that I made was definitely the meringue because it tastes just like marshmallows,” Mascardo said. 

Emma Hall ’21:

Emma Hall ‘21 channeled her inner pastry chef as well, making some fun and easy lemon bars. She tried out a Food Network recipe courtesy of Ina Garten. It is an intermediate level recipe that yields 20 or 40 bars depending on the cut. 

“They had a really nice texture and were really easy to make,” Hall said. You can find this delicious recipe here

COVID-19 has given people a lot to deal with, but some people have been given extra time. If you are using that time to make some delicious sweets or tasty meals, share them with the West Side Story on Instagram @wsspaper.