The two girls look at multiple recipes on the counter. They stare, thinking of ways to make the recipe healthier without altering the flavor or texture of the food. They decide on a simple brownie recipe, but with a twist— the standard oil or butter, which is high in fat, would be replaced with heart-healthy avocados.

Every week, PV sophomores Elise DeBiasio and Shauna McLean take typically unhealthy desserts and strive to make them healthier, while posting their findings on their blog, “Balanced Baker”.

This is done as part of their “28 Hours Project” for their Honors English II class, made possible by teacher Mr. Matthew Morone’s open classroom. This project encourages students chose a skill they would like to focus on and master every Friday for the entire school year.

“I was really hoping students would choose a topic that they genuinely cared about and that they were passionate about,” Morone said. “In this case, I think they did. When I saw the initial returns on it I was blown away as they clearly have a talent.”

McLean and DeBiasio both decided to choose this topic for their project because they are passionate about baking, but wanted to stay healthy when eating their desserts.

DeBiasio especially wanted to impress her grandmother, who typically did not eat the treats she baked, as they interfered with her healthy diet. Instead, DeBiasio tried to make healthy desserts that her grandma could enjoy while keeping this diet.

“Both of us like to bake very much, but baking was just so unhealthy,” DeBiasio said. “We wanted to bake more often and also make healthier recipes.”

DeBiasio and McLean both started to bake when they were young. When DeBiasio was a child, she used to shadow her mom in the kitchen while her mom prepared her meals.

McLean loved baking from a young age as well, as baking was a way for her and her own grandmother to bond.

“I started really young,” McLean said. “My grandma and I would read Italian recipes and make them together and as I got older I started to bake more complicatedly.”

When planning the recipe they are going to make each week, McLean and DeBiasio usually start by coming up with an idea they want to try. Then, they look it up online where they find a recipe for it. Lastly, they take it a step further and compare that recipe with others recipes online while they convert the unhealthy ingredients to healthy ingredients. The challenge comes in seeing if the conversions will make the recipe taste better or worse.

DeBiasio and McLean face the difficulty of making these healthy foods taste “good.” Sometimes it takes them several tries to accomplish a task. The first item they made, avocado brownies, did not turn out as well as they would have hoped, as the avocadoes did not mix with brownies in the way that they expected.

However, these failures are met with a similar number of triumphs.

“All the recipes we put on the blog are successful recipes,” DeBiasio said. “We measure how good our food is on how much my dad can eat and if he comes back for more servings.”

By participating in this project, DeBiasio and McLean have been mastering their skill and baking often. Some of their favorite items to bake have been Swiss Meringue Buttercream and profiteroles.

“When you make meringue you turn the bowl upside down to tell if it is ready, that is my favorite part,” McLean explained.

DeBiasio and McLean love to bake as it calms them down from their busy lives. McLean always bakes before a big test to calm her nerves.

While McLean and DeBiasio are not planning careers in the culinary arts, they still plan on baking regularly in the future. They hope that baking will be a hobby they will enjoy for years to come.

“Baking was a hobby I remember  doing with my mom and dad,” McLean said.  “I wish to continue to bake in the future with my own kids.”