Pat on the bake: Twin bakers take home another prize

Even as small children, teens Cora and Devyn Hogg knew they wanted culinary careers.

"When we were younger we always wanted to open a restaurant. We always used to draw out little floor plans and things like that," said Devyn, who bakes with twin sister Cora in Grand Falls-Windsor. "But now we're on the track of wanting to become bakers and own our own bakery some day."

Already running a successful home baking business, the 13-year-olds are proving that their skills in the kitchen are wide-ranging after taking home the gold at the Skills Canada Intermediate Challenge in late November.

The Hogg sisters were the winners in a field of 17 teams for their pesto chicken pizza with blistered tomatoes and baby kale salad with red onions, pineapple, and a dijon vinaigrette.

Prize-winning teens

This isn't the first prize the twins have received for their work in the kitchen. 

Cora and Devyn won the Youth Ventures Excellence in Customer Service award in August, just a few months after taking their first baking orders for Two Peas in a Pod, their home-based business making cakes, cupcakes, and other treats. 

But their culinary talents began with cooking, thanks to the time they spent helping out family in the kitchen.

"We always loved to cook with our grandparents and our mom and dad, our aunts and uncles," Devyn told the Central Morning Show on Wednesday. "We loved helping out in the kitchen."

But baking offers some artistic appeal that the two girls find appealing, as shown by the decorated cakes that can be seen on their business Facebook page. 

"They're both really creative, like you can do so much with them," Cora said of both cooking and baking. "But personally I like baking a little bit more, just because of the decorative side."

Getting ready for Christmas

It is fortunate that Cora and Devyn prefer baking because they are doing a lot of it right now, thanks to their Christmas cupcake sale. 

The teens have more than 100 cupcakes to complete for delivery Dec. 23 — and hopefully a few extras to share with their class, teachers at their school, and the local hospital.

But on Christmas Day, say Cora and Devyn, they'll leave the holiday cooking to their mother, though they plan to help with prep — and will take over a very important job once all the food has been enjoyed.

"Sometimes if our parents cook, like Christmas dinner, we'll probably do some dishes and stuff like that," Cora said. "So we help each other out."