A near-tie, a key lime pie, and a shortcake countdown defined the event.
By Bennett Campbell Ferguson
March 20, 2026
For the past few years, Reed community members have competed in the Great Reedie Bake Off, testing their culinary talents in a contest of skill, speed, and pun-friendly team names. And on March 16, 2026, this year’s Bake Off came to a suspenseful conclusion in Commons, with three teams competing to bake the best-tasting shortcake in 45 minutes.
The idea of the Bake Off first began heating up in 2019, when Professor Radhika Natarajan [history and humanities] proposed a Great British Bake Off-style event. Groups of students, staff, and faculty were invited to form teams and compete in three rounds of competition.
In each round, teams created a dish in response to a challenge or theme, with community members sampling each treat in the Student Union and voting for their favorite concoctions. Rotating judges typically included a student, a faculty or staff member, and a "celebrity" judge (i.e. a local chef or a Reed senior administrator, such as President Audrey Bilger).
This year marked the second year of the Bake Off’s post-pandemic return, sponsored by the Office for Institutional Diversity, the Dean of the Faculty's Office, and the President's Office (who provided funding for ingredients and other support to get the popular event cooking again).
After two previous rounds, 2026’s Bake Off came down to three teams, each of which not only completed the live shortcake challenge, but brought in their own individual take on a fruit-themed, home-baked dessert: key lime pie from team Baking Bad, piña colada meringues from Kneaded Rivalry, and chiffon cakes with mango mousse from Mind Over Batter.
It was a hard-fought battle for baking mastery: Baking Bad and Mind Over Batter tied with 130 points apiece, with a tiebreaking vote delivering victory for the former team (which included Lauren Brown ’26, Philip Dussin ’26, Abby Grummett ’26, Flor Lopez ’26, Millie Van Slyke ’26, and Tú-Anh Tiêu Hà ’26). Key lime pie may be tangy, but on that day in Commons, victory tasted sweet.