Local Child Baker's Blog Inspires Others To 'Grab Your Mixing Bowl And Measuring Cups And Join In The Fun'
By Chelsea Karnash
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Twelve-year-old Pete Dougherty is following his own simple recipe for success: Do what you love.
The aspiring baker from Meadowbrook started his own blog, Pete's Treats Academy, at the ripe old age of 10 – with some help from his mom, of course.
"He's always loved baking with me," Pete's mother, Alice Dougherty, says. "He's always loved sweets -- he has a major sweet tooth."
"I love baking because you get to eat the food when you are done. It is cool to bake for other people and put a smile on their face by making good food," Pete explains. "I like the process of baking because you transform ingredients into something different and delicious."
And his love of baking comes naturally, too – Alice actually went to school for it.
"Even though I'm gluten-free," she laughs. "So I don't even get to taste the creations – except for a bit of icing or filling here or there."
On the blog, photos of the young pastry chef and step-by-step directions for creating everything from pumpkin whoopie pies to "The Best Hot Fudge Sauce EVER!!" are posted to help other children – and adults – who are interested in making mouthwatering confections at home.
Alice says the recipes come from a number of places, but they all get Pete's spin put on them.
"I have a ton of cookbooks, and just family recipes that I've written down over the years," she says. "He takes those and sort of makes them his own."
What's Pete's favorite thing to bake?
"Hot Fudge Pudding Cake, because it transforms and it's cool how it changes from a powdery liquid-y dough into a cake with a pudding layer," Pete says.
Between school, football and baking, a blog might seem like a pretty ambitious thing for a child to take on, but Pete's dedication to baking is real. In fifth grade, he attended the sixth grade's annual "Hobby Show," which inspired him to use his own hobby to start Pete's Treats.
Two years and plenty of blog posts later, he's now participating in a program called the Venture Incubator at his school, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. That program requires students go in front of a panel and present their business ideas before they're paired up with a mentor who can take their project from an idea to reality.
With an established blog, Pete's already a step ahead. His next goal, with the help of his mentor, is to become a social media wiz and promote Pete's Treats on social media. He and his mom just set up a Facebook page, and someday, they hope to get advertisers.
Pete hasn't stopped baking, either. He recently competed in a pie-making contest in Sea Isle, NJ, where his Reese's peanut-butter pie with peanut butter mousse and chocolate got second place, "so he's very excited," his mom says.
And when asked what advice he'd give to other kids with a hobby they want to take to the next level, Pete doesn't hesitate:
"Do something you really like, not just something that you think might be cool. You need to be dedicated and confident. You need to make time to do your blog. Make sure you do your research, and know what you are doing before you start," he says.
Wise words from a 12-year-old who's already cutting his own path in the culinary world.
To read Pete's blog, click here.