The smell of chocolate fills the air as students crowd around the packed kitchen, marveling at their creations. This kind of experience is at the heart of Baking for a Cause, a club where the joy of baking is matched only by the power of sharing.
Since its start in 2021, the club has brought UTD students together every other week on Thursdays and Fridays to bake pastries, which they then donate to local homeless and women’s shelters. Healthcare studies senior Laurel Way, the club’s co-president, said the club provides all the ingredients, tools and recipes needed and that members only have to bring their passion and excitement.
“We get a lot of messages from people really nervous, [saying] ‘I don’t have any baking experience,’ and I am like don’t worry, we have you covered,” Way said. “We want you to all have fun and bake.”
Way said that camaraderie is the club’s secret ingredient. While treats like brownies and muffins are in the oven, members connect and play games. Interdisciplinary studies senior Rebecca Ikle, also a co-president, said that one of their most popular games was the cookie competition — a game in which members went head-to-head against each other to make the most creative, and ideally tasty, cookies. Ikle said some unique standouts included chocolate espresso and matcha cookies.
“If people aren’t quite as comfortable baking all the time, you [can still] hang out with us,” Ikle said. “As a club we have gone to a pumpkin patch, done canvas painting, sometimes we bring games, it’s the social aspect of the club.”
Way said that at the very core of Baking for a Cause is the notion of safe experimentation. She said members are encouraged to always be on the lookout for fun and eccentric recipes the group could dive into as a group, including learning about pastries from cultures across the globe.
“We always accept recipe ideas, and we have a recipe sharing [channel],” Way said. “We worked with [UTD’s Chinese Student Association] and did egg tarts for Chinese New Year and are always open.”
It isn’t just the members that benefit from these sweet treats, either — Baking for a Cause donates its creations to organizations like Austin Street Center, a homeless shelter in Dallas, and Emily’s Place, a women’s shelter in Plano. Although the club’s members usually don’t interact with the visitors of these shelters, the gratefulness from the community is felt through various thankful emails sent to the club over the years.
“I enjoy giving back to the community and for me that was a big part of the impact I see,” Ikle said. “There is a positive impact, even if we don’t [physically] see the results of it.”
Way said that for her, the act of baking itself was part of the gift the club gives.
“I worked at a food bank, and a lot of the meals they packaged for the shelters focuses on nutrition, which is great but sometimes you miss those nice baked goods,” Way said. “I think having just a little bit of sweetness, something you don’t normally get, [can bring] joy.”
The club’s main challenge is space. While Northside Club House 1’s kitchen might have enough space for all the members to mingle, its singular oven is nowhere near enough for all the treats they wanted to make. As members continue to join, the need for space grows more pressing. Despite the constraints, however, the club has become an indispensable fixture in Way’s life.
“Not only are you getting to know the peers around [you], I think this is a great way for different majors to come together and do one thing,” Way said. “This is such a heavy commuter school, you can end up just at class or home so [the club] is so important.”
Baking for a Cause will have their next bake sale from Oct. 6 to 7 on the second floor of the SU from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. selling various flavors of cake pops, chai cinnamon rolls, chocolate pumpkin muffins, s’mores cookies and matcha crinkle cookies as a welcome to the fall season. For information on joining, students are encouraged to follow the club’s Instagram and join its Discord.
“The reason why I really enjoy this club is because baking is such a fun hobby and it brings everyone together,” Way said. “I like being able to bring a little bit of joy into someone who is going through a really rough time.”
One Comment
A noble savoury experiment. Well articulated. Thanks