Sweet Treat: Culinary Students Learn the Art of Patisserie at Well-Known Local Bakery
Hawai‘i Community College Culinary Arts students in a patisserie class are getting real-world experience this year during an internship at Short N Sweet Bakery & Cafe in Hilo.
Sydirah Aricayos was one of three Culinary Arts students on a recent morning making sweet bread rolls, frosting cakes and making cookies at the bustling bakery.
“I like learning the different processes for how they do things,” said Aricayos. “It’s a good blend of the familiar and the unfamiliar.”
The partnership came about as the college struggled to find an instructor for a patisserie class, and Maria Short, owner of Short N Sweet, stepped up and offered to teach the students.
“Hawai‘i will always need talented, hard-working chefs and I'm grateful for the opportunity to teach the next generation in this ever-changing hospitality field,” said Short.
Among the team of bakers helping instruct the students are Kainoa Thornton, a 2014 graduate of the Hawai‘i CC Culinary Arts program who is assistant bakery manager, and Donna Neighoff, bakery manager.
At Short N Sweet they make everything from scratch, Neighoff said, and it’s important to teach those skills to the next generation.
“You need to pass this on,” Neighoff said. “It’s becoming a lost art.”
The Culinary Arts program at Hawai‘i Community College offers associate degrees and certificates at both the Hilo campus and the Pālamanui campus in Kona. The program offers a variety of hands-on learning opportunities as students operate an on-campus cafeteria and cafes and participate in community internships, events and competitions.
