Who says there’s no eating in the library?

Stirring, mixing, pouring … and creating, teen chefs put their pedals to the metal — well, really their spatulas to the bowl — and mixed up some delicious desserts in a Teen Iron Chef -Just Desserts contest at C.H. Booth Library on January 15.

There were 12 young chefs — a baker’s dozen when you include sous chef Makaela Landisman — who participated in the hour-long friendly (and tasty) competition. Open to teens in grades 6-12, and inspired by popular televised cooking shows, including Iron Chef, the program was put on by Kim Weber, young adult librarian at the town library.

Ms Weber provided an assortment of supplies, such as cutting boards and utensils, along with ingredients. One by one, participants, each wearing an apron, went to a table of sugary selections, including chocolate cookies, graham crackers, pudding, honey, candy canes, cinnamon, and fruits such as kiwis and bananas.

Contestants had 30 minutes to stir up a dessert that would soon be judged on creativity, taste, and presentation, by their friends and fellow competitors. The second half hour of the event featured an opportunity for the teens to sample and rate each other’s work on score sheets.

Ms Weber tallied up the results and, in a close decision, Annie Fowler and her Pudding Chocolate Layer dish won first place with a score of 173.5. Casey Dunn and his Chocolate Truffle earned second place with a score of 171, and Tatem Perlman, who made Chocolate Pound Cake, placed third with a score of 162.5.

Apparently the judges like chocolate — even when it’s on them.

“I’m all chocolatey,” Annie said as she put the finishing touches on her dessert.

“I think it’s great to get the kids involved with cooking. It’s such a life skill,” said Chris Fowler, who had two daughters participating, including 12-year-old Annie’s twin sister Chelsea, who made Fresh Fruit Salad.

Tatem was pleasantly surprised to with how much her peers enjoyed her dessert.

“It wasn’t great — but at least it wasn’t bad,” she said before her pound cake dish took home runner-up honors.

The young chefs were thrown a curveball as a secret ingredient that they were required to incorporate into their dishes was brought out: Mascarpone, which has similar consistency to, but has more flavor than, cream cheese, Ms Weber told them.

“It’s really fun said,” said Makaela, who had fun handing out materials and seeing what the contestants were making.

Jacob Shuman made Fudge Sandwich Cookies using graham crackers. He placed peppermint sticks on top as a garnish.

“I’m going to stack them in the most elegant way possible,” Jacob said as time began to wind down for the judging to begin.

“They’re amazingly creative. They just come up with great ideas all the time,” Ms Weber said.

Allyanna Applebee made Parfait, Ethan Parsons made Mud Pie, Andralyn Applebee came up with Banana Extreme, Rebecca Filiato made Chocolate Mousse, Mackenzie Hughes created Quadruple Layer Pudding, Susannah Drap did a spin on an old campfire favorite with Banana S’mores, and Julian Coyle made Kiwi Crisp.

“It’s good — it’s very unique tasting. I know we’re not all professionals,” Ethan said during the taste testing. “For the most part it turned out well.”