Photo by Samantha Davis Russell-Tyler-Ruthton students Kamryn Novak (left) and Daryssa Cruz (right) decorate their multi-tiered cakes.

MARSHALL — Nearly 250 students made their way to Southwest Minnesota State University Tuesday morning to participate in the 20th annual Schwan Culinary Skills Challenge, hosted by SMSU’s Culinology Department in partnership with the Southwest West Central Service Cooperative.

“It’s really the food science piece of it, that’s what several of the competitions focus on,” Career Development Coordinator for SWWC Gail Polejewski said. “There’s kids going on a culinology tour … There’s going to be different sessions.”

This year’s event brought in about 230 students, along with a handful of chaperones and advisers. Ten area schools attended the competition, including BOLD, Fairmont, Harrisburg, Lakeview, Marshall, Montevideo, Murray County Central, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Webster and Worthington.

The students spent the day participating in various culinary-related skill competitions and attending breakout sessions, given by a range of local professional chefs.

There also were a handful of students taking part in a cake decorating competition during the morning.

Alayna Berg from Harrisburg decorated her cake with a shark theme in the fondant portion of the competition.

“I’m going to be doing sharks. I’ve done it technically once, but I’ve never actually practiced it … This is my second time doing fondant,” Berg said. “I wanted a white base, just because I feel like it makes it stand out a bit better. Then, my quarter is going to be blue around, as if it (the shark) is coming out of the water.”

Caitlynn Hedman from Lakeview made a picnic-basket influenced design in the multi-tiered competition.

“This is my first time doing this design specifically, because I dreamt it last night,” Hedman said. “Meant to be.”

Jerrika Keleher, also from Lakeview, designed her cake with a spring theme, and said she is focusing on her ribboning technique. She used a green base for the cake, and carried on to decorate it with flower designs.

Kendyle Breyfogle from RTR also was creating a new cake design she hasn’t done before.

“I’m doing a little enchantment forest theme,” Breyfogle said. “I will be making mushrooms with the fondant.”

Jaeryn Buchert from RTR also had an outdoor theme going, decorating her cake with a beach design.

Using a tier ruler to make sure calculations are spot on, Isaac Perez Perez and Tony Hernandez of Worthington were focused in on their fondant cakes.

“I’m making a bee theme … I’m going to have a little black trimming around the cake and everywhere,” Hernandez said.

Besides the competitions, students also were able to participate in other interactive activities like decorating cookies and making sourdough, along with attending presentations on Korean cuisine, food trucks and more. There also was a knife skills and menu design portion of the day.

The Culinary Challenge has been going on since 2005 and took place in SMSU’s R/A Facility, along with other breakout sessions around the school.

Polejewski said the event maintains an average of around 250 participants each year.