An F.H. Collins Secondary School student is vying for the title of best baker at the Canadian Skills Competition.

Sarah Hamilton, a 17-year-old Grade 12 student, will be competing as a baker in the 15th annual competition, which began today and goes until Saturday in Charlottetown

Skills Canada holds the competition every year to promote careers in trades. Students from high schools all across the country compete in more than 40 trade and technology areas, ranging from aircraft maintenance to hair styling.

"It encourages you to work on a trade and it gives you a great opportunity to travel somewhere and compete under conditions that are...not really typical working conditions," Hamilton said in an interview last week.

For the competition, which runs two days, Hamilton will be baking an assortment of pastries and breads.

Day one will focus on small production bread making, where Hamilton will have six hours to create three loaves and 18 rolls from three types of dough. The same day, she will also have to create three varieties of choux paste, a type of light pastry dough.

On day two, Hamilton will have another six hours to create a puff pastry tart with custard filling, fresh seasonal fruit and a clear glaze, as well as a sponge cake and marzipan figurines.

"It's very difficult to finish well because you have so many products you have to make and they all have to be presented at a certain time," said Pat McKenna, the instructor of the Foods Education and Service Training (FEAST) program at F. H. Collins.

"I think that's one of the most difficult things about the skills competition – the pressure and the speed at which they have to work."

But working under that kind of pressure is "an important skill to have if you want to be in the food industry," said Hamilton.

She has been part of the FEAST program for the past two years, and has been in baking classes with McKenna for four years.

"Sarah is...very multitalented," said McKenna. "This is a student who can go from making savoury salads, to soups, to meat dishes, and she also excels at baking."

Hamilton was entered into the Canadian Skills Competition after winning the territorial competition for baking in April. Since there are more students involved in many provincial competitions, such as Ontario and Quebec, Hamilton doesn't have high hopes for winning a gold.

"Honestly, it's a lot harder to go (to the Canadian Skills Competition) when you're from a province, like from Quebec or Ontario, where a lot of the kids are already working in bakeries," said Hamilton.

But that hasn't stopped her from preparing well for the national competition.

Hamilton can often be found in her school's kitchen making breads and pastries over and over again as practice.

"My friends really like it because I bring them food all the time. They're like: 'Oh, here comes the bread lady,' because I often have just a bag of fresh bread, or cake," said Hamilton.

Another way she has been preparing for the competition is by learning food safety.

"Training for something like Skills...they really look for safety, and food safety and sanitation and everything," said Hamilton. "So it's really good to have a head start on that and I have learned the rules really well from working in this kitchen."

She has also received a lot of support from her school, which allows her to use as many of its supplies as she needs, and also brings in professional bakers to work with the FEAST students.

"These kids have to get other professionals in to help," said McKenna, adding that while she is working with a room full of students, the professionals can teach the high-end pastries.

It is in the finished product of pastries such as these where the appeal of baking lies, for Hamilton.

"I love the way that a finished product can look so beautiful. And when you do a giant cake, I really like the presentation a lot," she said.

Her favourite item to create is a chocolate cake. The secret, she said, is not to cook it too long, and to use a delicious filling.

"I like to use raspberries, or something that really moistens it," she said.

Hamilton has been baking since she was a child, making cookies with her mother, but one person who really inspired her to bake was her grandmother.

"She was a farm wife, and so she made pies every day," said Hamilton.

"So hanging out with her definitely made me want to bake. She's really good at it."

The dream is to continue baking, to "work in a bakery, make wedding cakes," said Hamilton.

As she is also a fiddler in her band Done Gone Stringband, Hamilton will take the summer to tour in California and Vancouver. She hopes to attend the Pacific

Institute of Culinary Arts in March 2010.

"To have that many talents is pretty amazing, for 17 years old. I'm very impressed with her," said McKenna.