As high school junior Makayla rolled out the dough for her tart, chef Shamel Donigan, her baking teacher at Food and Finance HS in Hell’s Kitchen, offered guidance. “Turn, roll and lift up” the rolling pin, he said, and fold the dough in half before placing it into the pan and pressing it down.

“You’ve got to be fast with this because the fluted tart rings are not as forgiving as the straight ones,” he said before demonstrating how to trim the excess with a paring knife.

The chocolate–almond–caramel–cherry tart was beginning to take shape, along with other delectable, complex desserts, as the class on March 13 prepared for the school’s upcoming pop-up dining event. In the coming days, the tart team would brush melted chocolate on the shell, place almond sponge cake soaked in simple syrup in it, and add glazed caramel mousse and cherry compote. The whole thing would be topped off with mascarpone whipped cream.

Donigan, who has taught at Food and Finance HS for three years and is the UFT chapter leader at the school, was recognized for his excellence at the 2024 CTE Awards in February. He previously worked at several upscale restaurants and bakeries and was an instructor at the Culinary Institute of New York at Monroe College.

Donigan said he is strict with his students, but also has a “sarcastic, playful attitude” with them. He encourages them to do their best and to include in their weekly journals any ideas about how he could improve his teaching.

Donigan describes his culinary skills as versatile, but says the details and artistry of pastry are his passion. “Even though you can be artistic with savory, a pastry is much more detailed and much more fluid,” he said.

As the 27 students in his class have learned, making pastry is precise and exacting. As they prepared for the pop-up, the students painstakingly measured flour and other ingredients into containers that sat atop food scales.

“A weight by grams is the most accurate,” said student Norberto, Donigan’s current sous-chef. “In a cup, sometimes there’s a little bit more or a little bit less.”

Carter, who was making a deconstructed carrot cake, said he likes Donigan’s class because the work is intricate and demanding but also rewarding. “Me, personally, I mess up a lot, but you learn, you grow, and once you do grow, you have a lot of fun,” he said.

Next year, when he is a senior, Carter will gain real-world experience through internships and baking competitions. Two of this year’s Food and Finance HS seniors received top awards and scholarships in a recent pastry competition at Monroe College.

Donigan, who also advises the school’s baking club, said it is thanks to his students that he received a CTE award.

“They trust me, they put their faith in me, and they let me teach them something that I love to do,” he said, “and I’m just happy to share it.”