Pastry Arts Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Cydni Mitchell: Pricing, Marketing & Sales for Bakery & Sweet Business Owners Oct 08, 2022

Show notes

Cydni N. Mitchell (aka Cyd) is a Bakery Consultant and the Sweet Business Coach behind Sweet Fest. Based in Atlanta, GA, Sweet Fest is an online company that supports the business needs of the Sweet Community in the areas of professional development, marketing, branding and web design. By trade, Cyd is an Accountant & Financial Analyst with a Masters from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the Head Instructor of the Sugar Coin Academy, an online business academy for business owners in the baking and sweets industry, and she is also the organizer of The Ultimate Sugar Show, Georgia's Largest Annual Baking and Sweets Expo in Atlanta. She is also a Columnist for American Cake Decorating Magazine and has served as a judge on the Holiday Kids' Baking Battle on the CW.

In this episode, we discuss:

Cyd's background and how she got started in the pastry and baking industry
The challenge with pricing that many owners face
A big mindset shift in determining pricing for products
Marketing channels that are working now
How other dessert business owners are marketing products
And much more!

Episode Sponsored by The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley

Get complimentary samples of The Perfect Purée to experience flavor first-hand delivered directly to your business. Samples are available to foodservice professionals in the United States to sample the robust flavor line-up of fruit purees, concentrates, zests and blends. Visit www.perfectpuree.com/pastryarts to request your samples now.

Carol Gancia: The Long and Winding Road to Becoming an Artisan Chocolatier Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

Carol Gancia is the founder and head chocolatier of Kokak Chocolates, an artisanal chocolate company that specializes in small-batch single-origin heirloom chocolates in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco and ships within the continental U.S. Hailing from San Francisco, Carol Gancia is an immigrant, LGBTQ member and rising female chocolatier. Kokak, which means "ribbit" in the Filipino language, is inspired by Gancia's Asian heritage. She spearheads the creative process in designing each chocolate's flavors and pairs it with colorful, playful designs.

In this episode we discuss:

How tasting European chocolates as a child inspired a lifelong love of chocolate
How she embarked on a first career in video production
Her stint as a television producer for culinary shows
How she learned the techniques of crafting artisan chocolates
How Gancia launched Kokak Chocolates
Her love for Nacional cacao from Ecuador
What the LGBTQ community means to her
And much more!

Episode Sponsored by ASR Group Experts trust Domino and C&H Sugar brands because each powerful grain of their cane sugar delivers an impact. Proving that baking is all about what you put into it. Visit thebakingexperts.com for more insights.

Crystal Bonnet: Mastering the Art of Raw Desserts Sep 07, 2022

Show notes

As a graduate of the plant-based and raw food nutrition programs at Matthew Kenney Culinary Academy and the Pure Joy Academy, Crystal Bonnet has worked hard to learn the importance of the culinary aspect and nutritional elements of living foods. "With knowledge, anything is possible!" she emphasizes, and these five words inspire and guide her to create beautiful, innovative raw food and desserts and share her knowledge with those seeking to learn more about raw food and desserts.

Her work within the plant-based culinary industry has led her on many adventures, including the development of unique plant-based menus for new restaurants. She launched her Crystal Dawn Culinary courses, easy to follow and comprehensive classes that allow Chef Crystal to share with her students so that they will have as much knowledge as necessary to understand raw foods and their health benefits. Visit her website at www.crystaldawnculinary.com, or follow her on Instagram at @crystal_dawn_culinary.

In this episode we discuss:

Crystal's journey to a vegan and raw diet
Her tips for emulating the texture of baked cakes in raw ones
Some misconceptions that non-vegans have about vegan and raw desserts
Why Crystal started teaching the art of raw desserts
How Crystal launched her raw food culinary academy
The process of writing and photographing her first book, The Art of Raw Desserts
Crystal's top tip for making raw desserts
How she stores her nuts, seeds and other raw ingredients
And much more!

Episode Sponsored by The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley

Michael Laiskonis: Teaching and Inspiring a New Generation of Pastry Chefs Aug 26, 2022

Show notes

Michael Laiskonis joined the Institute of Culinary Education in New York as Creative Director in 2012, fresh off of an eight-year tenure as Executive Pastry Chef at Le Bernardin. He has long been one of the industry's most creative and talented chefs, noted for helping Le Bernardin earn four stars from The New York Times and three Michelin stars. Laiskonis was also named among America's Top Ten Pastry Chefs by Pastry Art & Design in 2002 and 2003, and was Bon Appétit's Pastry Chef of the Year in 2004. Best known for his use of modern techniques to reinvent classic desserts, he was presented with the coveted James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2007. Chef Laiskonis received the IACP's 2014 Culinary Professional of the Year Award, one of the most distinguished honors in the culinary field.

In this episode you'll learn:

What first piqued Michael's interest in the culinary arts
What drew him from savory cuisine to pastry
How he developed his pastry style at Tribute in Detroit
How he honed his style as Executive Pastry Chef at Le Bernardin
About his role as Creative Director at the Institute of Culinary Education in NYC
All about The Chocolate Lab, a unique facility for chocolate research and learning
About Michael's thoughts on how to evaluate chocolate
What Michael sees for the future of our industry

Tavel Bristol-Joseph: A Pastry Chefs Journey from Guyana to "Best New Chef" Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

Tavel Bristol-Joseph is the Pastry Chef and Partner at Emmer & Rye, Hestia, Kalimotxo, Henbit, TLV and Canje in Austin, Texas. He began his culinary journey as a young boy, spending every Saturday afternoon baking cookies, cakes, and pies with his aunt. After moving to the United States from Guyana when he was 17 years old, Bristol-Joseph attended the New York Restaurant School. He then worked in a variety of restaurants in New York before moving to Tucson in 2006, where he joined Fox Restaurant Concepts. He worked within the restaurant group for two years before going to Zona 78 where he met and began working with Chef Kevin Fink. Fink and Bristol-Joseph decided to move to Austin to open Emmer & Rye in November 2015. Emmer & Rye has been included in Bon Appétit's "America's Best New Restaurants 2016" list, as well as named Austin American-Statesman's"2018 Best Restaurant in Austin." In 2020, Bristol-Joseph opened Hestia with Fink which has been named "#1 Best New Restaurant in America" by Robb Report. Bristol-Joseph also received the StarChefs Rising Star Award in 2017 and was named one of FOOD & WINE Magazine's "Best New Chefs of 2020." Bristol-Joseph is a proud father to teenaged twins and currently resides in Austin with his wife Brittany and his dog Gus Gus.

In this episode we discuss:

Growing up in Guyana
How Tavel got hooked on baking when he was young
Moving to New York and enrolling in the New York Restaurant School
Tavel's work experience and meeting his future business partner
Opening Emmer & Rye in 2015, and the challenges that came along with it
Building the business, opening five more restaurants
What makes Tavel's Basque Cheesecake so good!
How he motivates his team
Being named one of Food & Wine Magazine's 'Best New Chefs of 2020'
And much more!

Shaun Velez: Pastry Life at a Michelin Star Restaurant Jun 09, 2022

Show notes

Born and raised in the Bronx, Pastry Chef Shaun Velez graduated from the French Culinary Institute, now known as the Institute of Culinary Education, in 2008. Following his studies, he established his career in the award-winning kitchens of Chef Daniel Boulud, where he worked closely with his mentor and James Beard Award winning pastry chef Ghaya Oliveira at both Boulud Sud and Restaurant DANIEL. Before making his way back to New York, Shaun spent some time in Boston as the Executive Pastry Chef at Deuxave, chef-owner Chris Coombs's contemporary French restaurant. There, he brought new skills, flavors and concepts to the restaurant's pastry program and Boston's overall dessert scene.

In 2018, Shaun returned to the Daniel Boulud family, this time as the Executive Pastry Chef at Café Boulud. Two years later, Chef Daniel tapped Shaun for the Executive Pastry Chef position at his acclaimed restaurant DANIEL. As Pastry Chef at DANIEL, Shaun continues to hone his craft by employing innovative techniques to transform classic desserts into modern creations, working on stunning constructions with the very best ingredients he can find.

In this episode we discuss:

How Shaun first became interested in the culinary world
His experience of attending culinary school, and the opportunities it provided
Shaun's first experience working at in one of Chef Daniel Boulud's restaurants
His first Executive Pastry Chef position at Deuxave in Boston
How he landed his dream job at Restaurant DANIEL
His signature style and some of the desserts on his current menu
What direction he thinks modern pastry in the U.S. will go
His views on work-life balance
And much more!

Dee Frances: Lessons in Baking Science from a Cookbook Author, Obsessive Baker & Blogger May 04, 2022

Show notes

Dee Frances is the voice and creator behind the baking blog One Sarcastic Baker, where she shares sweet baking recipes and different information about baking and baking science.

Working in retail bakeries and years of exploring and learning has given Dee the experience and knowledge to dive deep into the world of baking science and write her new book, Baking Science (April, 2022, Page Street Publishing), where she talks about the importance of science in the baking process and how we can use it to better our craft.

In this episode we discuss:

How Dee became obsessed with baking
What motivated her to start a baking blog
The dirty details of food blogging
The role of eggs in baking
A unique method for stabilizing whipped cream
When to use butter vs. oil in baking
The importance of acid in baking
Why freezing is a type of baking
Dee's tip for pre-heating an oven in record time
And much more!

Luis Amado: From Churros Cart to Chocolate Academy Mar 30, 2022

Show notes

Chef Amado began his foray into the culinary world at the age of 16, selling churros in the streets of Guadalajara, Mexico. As a young man he made the move to the U.S. to pursue an education in culinary arts. In 1992 he graduated from Grand Rapids Community College, and not long after, traveled to Belgium where he worked to develop his knowledge of classical European pastry and chocolate.

He returned to U.S. in 1994 and worked in a variety of positions at private country clubs and fine dining restaurants throughout California, Indiana and Michigan. Since 2016 he has been directing the Baking and Pastry Arts Program at Lake Michigan College, where he develops curriculum, teaches classes and coaches students for national and international competitions. He owns the Luis Amado Chocolate Academy in Stevensville, Michigan, where he offers personalized and small group chocolate classes to students from around the globe. His work has been featured in numerous magazines including The ACF National Culinary Review, Revista Dulcypass and So Good Magazine.

Chef Amado is very passionate about competitions and has captured more than 22 gold medals and 6 best-of-shows awards from competitions including the 1996 Culinary Olympics in Berlin, The 2000 National Dessert Competition, numerous ACF-approved Culinary Arts Salons, The Great Lakes Regional 1999-2003, and most recently the 2017 AUI Chocolate Cup in Washington, D.C.

In this episode we discuss:

Luis's entré into the world of food as the owner of a churro cart
How a customer helped him enroll in culinary school in the U.S.
Luis's passion for culinary competitions
How the student became a teacher
His style and process for developing new chocolates
His tips on working with chocolate
Advice for future chocolatiers
Why he decided to open the Luis Amado Chocolate Academy
And much, much more!

Jimmy Griffin: The Career of a Sixth-Generation Master Baker Feb 25, 2022

Show notes

Jimmy Griffin is a sixth-generation master baker from Galway Ireland. He has forty years' experience in the bakery industry, growing up in the family business. He is a specialist in viennoiserie, sourdough, bread and cake production. He holds a Master's degree in Food Product Development and Culinary Innovation and lectures to honors degree bakery students at the School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology, Technological University, Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin. He also works as an advisor and consultant to industry. In 2016, Jimmy was appointed as president of the Jury at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris. He regularly lectures and teaches overseas and has been involved with baking and competitions in most continents of the world.

In this episode, we discuss:

Being a sixth-generation master baker
Why he chose baking as a profession
Describing lamination techniques
His process of making the perfect croissant
Why croissants are challenging for some professionals
The differences in flours in relation to specific pastry products
Yeast considerations for laminated doughs
The bicolor croissant inception
Croissant trends today
How competitions influenced his career path
Self publishing his book
And much more!

Matthew James Duffy: From Professional Chef to Sourdough Expert Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

Known as "Sourdough Duffy", Chef Matthew James Duffy is a sourdough expert and teacher with an impressive resume. He spent over a decade working as a professionally trained chef in the some of the world's finest kitchens, including a time at Relais & Chateaux property Langdon Hall in Ontario, Restaurant Noma in Copenhagan, as well as five years working with Chef Daniel Boulud at Café Boulud NYC and as Sous-Chef opening Café Boulud Toronto. But even as he toiled in these restaurant kitchens, Duffy was always thinking about sourdough, and how to improve the bread offerings at each restaurant. He eventually left the restaurant kitchen to pursue this passion for baking by working with well-known bakers around the world, reading a library full of bread books, and embarking on a never-ending journey of learning the craft of sourdough baking. On this quest he worked with King Arthur Flour's bread master, Jeffrey Hamelman, and attended classes at the San Francisco Baking Institute and the French Pastry School in Chicago. He has represented Canada twice at the world Slow Food Conference in Turin, Italy, and is currently Professor and Program Coordinator at Centennial College's Pastry Arts Management Program in Toronto. Visit his website at www.matthewjamesduffy.com.

Highlights of this episode include:

What made Matt embark on a culinary career
What drew Matt to sourdough baking
His strategy for learning as much as he could about sourdough bread baking
Matt's tips on using fresh milled flour
What Matt has learned about making panettone
Matt's tips on making a high-hydration sourdough
Tips for incorporating discard into recipes
Matt's goals for his upcoming bread book
And much more!

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