Suffolk culinary students run bakery in Riverhead

At The Baker’s Workshop, intricately designed, multiple-layer cakes sat side by side behind a pane of glass. Scones smeared with a chocolate glaze were neatly arranged on a tray. A concoction called chocolate bark looked too delicate to eat.

But a tray of rich-looking chocolate cupcakes sat naked on a shelf back in the kitchen. They needed a topping before hitting the display case -- marshmallow was the natural choice.

“It’s the easiest thing to make that no one knows how to do,” Julia Koeppel said as she scribbled a marshmallow recipe from memory into a notebook.

Koeppel, a professional assistant at the workshop, wouldn’t be doing the icing. Instead she gave the recipe to one of the students who staff the shop and stood nearby while she whipped up a white, gooey paste, letting the student know when it reached the right consistency.

The Baker’s Workshop, which opened four years ago in Riverhead, had somewhat of a soft reopening this month and is now run solely by students from Suffolk County Community College’s culinary arts program as an internship for the baking students. The work is overseen by Professor Christina DeLustro and Koeppel.

In its previous incarnation, the shop served lunch and had other professional help, but Richard Freilich, director of the culinary arts and hospitality program at the college, said the bakery was a better fit.

“We really wanted to focus on our baking students,” he said. “We thought this was more suitable for the area, for the local businesses and for our program.”

Students work in the kitchen and behind the register as part of a semester-long internship.

Lauren O’Donnell, 20, of Bayport, said the workshop is a great opportunity for students who need hands-on experience, especially because internships can be hard to come by.

“It’s a little easier for culinary students because there are tons of restaurants,” she said. “But for baking students, sometimes it’s hard to find a good internship.”

Brandi Anderson, 31, of East Quogue, is in her final year of culinary school. Anderson, pictured above, said working with customers and seeing the last phase of the baking process has been a great learning experience.

“I’ve never worked in the food industry at all,” she said. “So it’s all new to me to see this end of the product.”

Located in the SCCC Culinary Arts and Hospitality Center on East Main Street, The Baker’s Workshop is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The student interns open up shop at 8 and start the baking for the day. When the baking classes get going for the day, students bring in the products they make in class.

In fact, the students produce so much product, that after 1 p.m., all baked goods are half-price.

Anderson said the best part of being in the workshop rather than the classroom is seeing a customer come in and buy something she’s made.

“You feel proud seeing someone actually buying it and enjoying it,” she said. “And it looks pretty.”