BeBe Anderson :
A junior chef with a big appetite for the future
by Connor Rabon
BeBe ’ s crème brulee .
Like most experienced bakers , Abigail Anderson , better known as BeBe , is familiar with the demand for baked goods during the holiday season . Unlike most experienced bakers , BeBe is only 13 years old .
The eighth grader from Ponchatoula has been baking since she was 6 , when instead of giving her the Easy Bake Oven that she wanted , her father challenged her to use a real oven to cook . Since then , BeBe has turned her favorite activity into an opportunity to compete against professional chefs and pursue auditions for televised cooking shows .
“ I like sweets better than regular food ,” BeBe said . Also among her reasons for preferring baking to other forms of cooking is the necessity for using particular methods . “ You have to do things specific ways ,” she said .
These methods paid off last year , when BeBe ’ s white chocolate jalapeno crème brulee took second place in the Chef ’ s Choice category in Ponchatoula ’ s Party in
foodspin
Photo by Phillip Colwart , phillipcolwart . com
the Pits . This category , which allowed the barbecue cook-off attendees to prepare any type of food , included professional chefs .
Her baking has led to other opportunities as well , such as her recent interview during a talent search for the pilot episode of a cooking show and her auditioning for the show MasterChef Junior . The latter ultimately did not select her because she would have been too old to qualify by the time the episode would air . She also hopes to audition for Chopped .
BeBe said that her two favorite things to cook are lava cakes and crème brulee . Lava cakes are her favorite to eat , while cooking crème brulee gives her the opportunity to defy expectations based on her age .
“ Most adults don ’ t expect a little kid to be able to do this ,” she said . In fact , it was her knowledge of crème brulee that made her family realize how serious she is about baking . One day , her mother was helping with a crème brulee when BeBe told her to tap the top of it to make sure it was done .