If there’s one thing you can count on with Explorers, it’s this: give them a challenge, a timer, and a stack of ingredients… and they’ll turn it into organised chaos (the best kind). 🔥
On Thursday, Beverley & Hornsea Explorers took on the Global Desserts Cooking Challenge — and absolutely smashed it. No messing about here. Every team was heads-down, hands-on, and cooking under pressure like they were in a Scout version of MasterChef. ⏱️
Focus Keyword: Explorer Scouts cooking challenge
Eight stations. Eight countries. One very busy kitchen.
This wasn’t a “mix it in a bowl and hope for the best” kind of night. Teams had to manage time, heat, technique, and teamwork — all while juggling multiple steps and keeping an eye on what was happening next.
The result? A full-on international dessert tour, made at speed, by young people who weren’t afraid to get stuck in.
The global desserts our Explorers created
Here’s what they tackled — and what each one tested:
🇧🇷 Brigadeiros (Brazil)
A lesson in patience and technique — continuous stirring to get that perfect fudgy texture.
🇹🇭 Mango Sticky Rice (Thailand)
Getting the rice just right on the hob, with coconut flavours dialled in properly (no shortcuts allowed).
🇫🇷 Crêpes Suzette (France)
Flipping crêpes with confidence while managing a high-heat orange sauce… with dignity intact (mostly).
🇪🇸 Leche Frita (Spain)
Cooking custard, chilling it, coating it, then pan-frying it — basically a four-stage operation with delicious consequences.
🇻🇳 Chè Chuối (Vietnam)
Simmering a traditional banana and tapioca dessert soup — comfort food and a proper introduction to new flavours.
🇹🇷 Sweet Gözleme (Turkey)
Rolling, filling, and frying apple flatbreads — teamwork-heavy and extremely popular once the smell kicked in.
🇼🇸 Fa’apapa (Samoa)
Mixing and actively pan-cooking Samoan coconut bread — simple ingredients, big reward if you keep it moving.
🇺🇸 Peach Crisp (USA)
Mixing crumble by hand and managing a short oven bake — timing matters when you’ve got eight stations running.
What they learned (without it feeling like “learning”)
This is the magic of nights like this — young people build real-world skills while they’re busy having a laugh:
- Teamwork: sharing tasks, dividing responsibilities, backing each other up
- Time management: planning steps and hitting a deadline
- Problem solving: adapting when something thickens too fast or starts to stick
- Confidence: trying new techniques and trusting themselves
- Practical life skills: cooking, safety, hygiene, and organisation under pressure
And, most importantly: how to keep calm when there are eight desserts on the go and someone asks, “Is this meant to be smoking?” 😅
Massive thanks to the leaders
A huge thank you to the leaders who managed eight simultaneous cooking stations — that’s no small task. Keeping the flow going, keeping it safe, and letting young people lead the cooking is exactly what makes nights like this possible.
Safe to say we’ve worked up an appetite for the next adventure… and we’ll absolutely be doing more challenges like this. 😉
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