In the end, his array of three mini desserts (chocolate sandwich cookies with lime buttercream and blackberry jam; berry and cream cakes with white chocolate frosting; and rosemary apple pies with salted caramel) helped him surge to the finish line over the other two finalists.“Brother Andrew deserved to win because we watched him grow week after week,” Yard said in the finale. Dispelling myths about friars (no, they’re not like cloistered monks) was a bonus to his primary goal of becoming a better baker, as far as Corriente was concerned.The decision made perfect sense to his sister. “Beans and weenies” won’t cut it. “He can eat so much, it’s crazy.” As if his constant energy didn’t burn off enough, the 5-foot-6 Corriente also likes to bike to counteract the fruits of his labor.Before Corriente started baking as a friar, the most food-adjacent part of his adult life had been a stint as a manager at Georgetown Cupcake in Los Angeles and helping book celebrity chefs on TV segments during a stint at a talent agency (he graduated from NYU in 2009 with a degree in film studies). “They called me again this year, and I did it.”He said he spent the month of July “recipe developing and recipe testing” before traveling to London in August, where the entire season was taped over the course of that month. Every Monday for 10 weeks.Our 8-week guide will show you that baking really is a piece of cake. Instead he makes dozens of spatchcocked (a la López-Alt) buttermilk-marinated (a la Nosrat) roasted chickens.“He has seen so often how soup kitchens serve up gruel, essentially,” says Father Paul Dressler, the guardian — “coach” is the analogy he likes — at Capuchin College. The friary, he said, exploded with whoops and shouts and cheers when Brother Andrew was named the winner.In addition to his baking, Brother Andrew uses his culinary skills to help the less fortunate and the working poor. The thought came to him while meditating in the chapel during his first year as a friar: “Why don’t you cook something?”Not that Corriente didn’t have plenty of exposure to food as a child. It was bizarre because it all felt right,” he says.
But Corriente takes it to another level.As he said in the first episode of the season, “My baking is always a conversation with God.”Corriente’s faith was on full display as soon as he appeared on the show wearing a habit — in his case, the plain, brown hooded robe associated with the Capuchin friars.“I don’t have to wear this,” although it’s encouraged, he says. (Mark Bourdillon/ABC)Corriente in the sacristy of Capuchin College with the cake stand prize he earned as champion of “The Great American Baking Show.” Becky Krystal is a food reporter and the lead writer for Voraciously. She says her brother’s palate ended up growing more than anyone else in their family. When Corriente’s parents, dad Rodel and mom Elna, immigrated, they were not ones to stick to the Filipino staples. Like, what are Andrew Corriente’s flavors? We make sure your donation in any amount will go a long way toward continuing our mission to inform, form in the Catholic faith and inspire the thousands of readers who visit every month.Please join in the church's vital mission of communications by offering a gift in whatever amount that you can ― a single gift of $40, $50, $100, or more, or a monthly donation. A lot. This is for you to nurture your love of baking.”At times, the month-long experience of taping the show felt anything but nurturing. “It really freaked me out because this was never part of the plan.
It is kind of a sacrificial love.”His interest in baking, he added, was spurred during his postulancy.Brother Andrew said he finds time for prayer as he cooks.
He also cooks for the community, particularly a weekly Sunday meal at a local hardware store. Then again, “When he wants something to make him happy, he goes to McDonald’s,” she laughs. “I didn’t know I could bake until I became a friar,” Corriente says. After several years as a general assignment reporter in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, she came to The Washington Post in 2007 to work for TV Week and Sunday Source. “God has already zigzagged my life in so many ways that I am open to anywhere he leads me,” he said.Capuchin Franciscan Brother Andrew Corriente inspects a cake that he’s baking at his friary in Washington Jan. 9, 2020. “He makes a point to really cook.”Unlike on the show, where he could get away with more esoteric flavors, at home he typically sticks to the crowd-pleasing favorites, which include a “His love of baking is really his love of other people, his love of serving,” Dressler says. The 30 men who live at Capuchin College are either studying nearby at The Catholic University of America, preparing for the priesthood, serving in various ministries throughout the Archdiocese of Washington or are retired.Capuchin Franciscan Father Paul Dressler, the province’s guardian and director of formation at Capuchin College, called Brother Andrew’s appearance on the program “part of the new evangelization.”“Brother Andrew wanted to be on the show as a witness. “They were very good, incredible cooks,” the brother said of his competition. I’m serving the poor. He also pointed to the ancient tradition of monks brewing beer, making wine and even giving coffee lovers everywhere the eponymous cappuccino.“It is connected to the fact that all good things come from God,” Father Dressler said.In episode four of “The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition,” Brother Andrew struggled with the challenge of creating a cheesecake tower with at least three tiers, with two of one flavor and one of a different flavor. (CNS photo/Andrew Biraj, Catholic Standard)During the current coronavirus crisis, you can help Budgets are tight at this time, and CatholicPhilly's is no different than those of most families. “When you’re able to fully express yourself as a person,” his sister says, “then you can really be able to give yourself to your faith.”Join our virtual cookbook club and sample recipes from our 10 must-reads — then decide what to add to your shelf. “My ability to bake is so tied to my way of life. He rarely cooked while living on his own.Now, Corriente has embraced a love of baking and cooking in general, devouring cookbooks and YouTube videos and speaking in terms of ratios, flour protein content and flavors. All the time. After two months of rigorous auditions, Br Andrew joined the team of nine other amateur bakers to be a part of ‘The Great American Baking Show’ Season 5. (Photos …