FOREST LAKE, Minn. — Marais Bower mixes her mint brownie batter with the ease that comes with experience.
"I don’t really know," she says. "But I've been baking for a long time."
Marais is 6 years old.
The girl from Forest Lake has spent half her life entering — and winning — local baking competitions. As recently as last month, Marais took home a handful of prizes at the Washington County fair: four first-place ribbons, two more for second place in her age group and a paper check for $11.50.
"That makes me feel like I just want to bake more," she said.
Her mint brownies were awarded a blue ribbon, a favorite among judges and relatives alike.
"[They're] amazing brownies like you've just never had," Marais's grandmother Jana Jass said, revealing the story behind the recipe. "She's such a chocoholic, so I got her chocolate mint. She harvested the chocolate mint, and somehow they incorporated it into the sugar."
In her home kitchen, Marais doesn't hesitate to pop a few chocolate chips into her mouth. "I just love the chocolate chips so much," she said.
Baking is a family affair. The tradition started generations before grandma Jana, who taught her daughter Kaylyn, Marais' mom. "All the ladies for sure, they were all bakers," Kaylyn said, pointing to photos of the family resting above the oven.
Kaylyn bakes professionally and has won awards herself. At the same county fair last month, Kaylyn took home five ribbons plus a top prize known as the Grand Reserve.
"Most people don't get to bake with their mom because they go to school, and I'm homeschooled," Marais said. "So it's way funner because I get to do stuff with her every day."
Between learning "all the time" without a proper summer break and assisting her mom in the kitchen nearly every day, Marais juggles many interests including ventriloquism (she hopes to purchase her first puppet with the cash prize from the fair). She expects to bake full-time in the future.
"But I also want to be a doula, and a singer," Marais added. "There's a lot of stuff on my plate."
Other milestones ahead include baking for the Minnesota State Fair. This year, judging begins Saturday, but Marais will have to wait. She is still eight years too young before she is eligible to enter.