By Mary Kate Moloney
Executive A&E Editor
Growing up with two older sisters, senior Molly Walsh always wanted to follow in their footsteps. Both of her older sisters were on cheerleading at Prospect, so it was a given that she would try out when she reached high school. After a difficult try out during the spring before her freshman year, she was disappointed to learn that she had not made the team.
Although Walsh was sad she couldn’t join her sisters courtside, she still wanted to support them, so she started making them goodie bags. Before big Friday night football games, Walsh would pass out cookies or cupcakes to her sisters and their teammates.  This lead Walsh to discover her love of baking during fall of her freshman year.
Sophomore year, Walsh decided to take Foods 1 with food science teacher and FCCLA advisor Amy Collins. When a culinary school representative presented in her class,  Walsh discovered Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island
“At first, I had no idea I wanted to go into culinary [arts], but after [the presentation] I ran home and was like, ‘I want to go here,’” Walsh said. “My mom was like, ‘It happens to everyone. It’s just because it’s the first school you’ve heard about,’ but I guess it stuck.”
Walsh also looked into Kendall College, but she wanted more of a college feel, and Johnson and Wales felt like home during her first visit. But again, Walsh had to decide if she was going to follow her two sisters to Iowa State or follow her dream of becoming a pastry chef. Even though Iowa State has a food science program, they don’t have a culinary school. Walsh decided she would part ways with tradition and commit to Johnson and Wales — with her family’s support.
To prepare for her culinary schooling, she decided to get a job at a bakery to get a look at how they run and what it takes to own one. Walsh started out at Cumberland Bakery but realized that it was different than she expected. In February, Walsh received a call from Sweet T’s Bakery and Cake Studio’s owner Tammy Montesino asking if she wanted a job at their newly opened pastry shop.
“I definitely switched right away because [Sweet T’s] has more to do with decorating,” Walsh said. “[Cumberland Bakery] was dealing more with breads and donuts. I like the cake aspect.”
In a normal week Walsh works on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 pm to 7:00 pm, with a five hour shift on Saturdays and an occasional shift on Sunday. Her typical duties include decorating butter cookies and cake pops along with assisting customers, but she anticipates that the more she works the more she will get to help out with the actual baking.
Outside of work, Walsh tries to bake about two to three times per week. She typically bakes cakes and cookies, her favorite being a simple chocolate chip because it’s fast and easy. Walsh will bake for anyone, but tends to make sweets for family, friends, and her mom’s coworkers. She enjoys making ice cream in the summer, but baking so often can get pricey.
“If the receipt is under $100, it’s a good day” Walsh said.
When trying new things, the road can sometimes get a little bumpy. Walsh has failed many attempts. She sometimes overcooks her cakes, and they crumble while being removed from the pan.
Although Walsh enjoys her out-of-school hobby as well as her job, she wanted to get involved in something before high school was over. She had always heard of FCCLA and her friends were involved, but she didn’t have the motivation to join until her senior year when she decided to compete in cake decorating.
Having no experience with fondant and never competing in baking before, Walsh spent weeks preparing for regionals. She decided she was going to put together a Cinderella themed cake, so she spent every weekend leading up to the competition working on a different character.
During the competition, every participant got a 30-by-30 inch work space, which Walsh didn’t feel was a lot of space to assemble a cake. Every competitor brought their own supplies, kept underneath the table. There was a 10 minute section where FCCLA members showed four different tip designs and a 60 minute section when they put their cake together. All the while, judges and teachers floated around the room, observing the participants. Walsh estimates that altogether her cake took around 36 hours from preparation to assembly.
“A lot of people were from Niles and wore chef coats that said ‘Niles Culinary Class,’ that was really intimidating because here I am borrowing someone’s chef coat,” Walsh said.
All of the hours paid off when Walsh won first place and most outstanding at her regional competition, and then went on to win a gold medal at the FCCLA state competition this past weekend in Springfield.
For Walsh, baking isn’t about competing. Her end goal is to own her own bakery.
“Some people run to clear their mind, but I bake,” Walsh said. “It calms me down. I’m a people pleaser, so I love to see people’s reaction when they get something good.”