judging baked goods with science

Hey, Hallie started it!

 

She holds an annual cookie contest for kids in her life, posting the photos on fb for for folks there to serve as the judges.

 

This year, she had ten entrants!!!

 

Each of them had to decorate three cookies: a tree, a star, and a gingerbread man.

 

Here's her post.

"Voting closes at 7:00 PM Monday…
Here we go again. Our annual Christmas cookie decorating contest. Please vote for your favorite by number. Don’t even ask about the back story on #3… lol. Keep in mind that 4 of these artists are in college and took off work to compete."

 

I saw the post today, so the judging must close on Christmas Day.

 

After viewing all the cookies, I determined that I needed to look at each type of cookie and determine their merits before advancing to the other two types of cookies.

 

That simplified one aspect of the judging, but made it difficult to declare one winner.

 

So, here's what I wrote to her.

"Okay, being an analytical chemist, I've put some care into my decision. 

If I could only select one as the winner, it would be # 7 or # 1, as both made two of my Top 3 lists. Here are those, for your consideration. 

 

Snowflakes: 1 (bright!), 5 (gum drops!), 7 (crisp lines). 

 

Tree: 4, 7, 10, all chosen for the yellow star at the tree's top. 

 

Gingerbread: 1 (shiny and simple), 2 (shiny), 6 (traditional). 

That was fun!!! 

Merry Christmas to all!" 

I wonder what rubrick was used by the other judges?

I wonder who will win?

I wonder how the cookies taste?

(smile!)