Pastry Chef Online--How to Think Like a Pastry Chef

Pastry Chef Online: How to Think Like a Pastry Chef

How to Think Like a Pastry Chef

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What are people saying?

"The muffins are great!!!!!!!! I used...your directions. I've made them with sour cream and with plain yogurt. They are awesome! ...I feel I have mastered muffins!! Thank you for your help; I'll be using your site. I love it. It is a treasure of information." Kiersten

"Love your site and visit it often!" Heidi

"Thank you so much for this wonderful site and for all of your help." Annmarie

"I think the site is extremely informative and easy to use." Linda

Who is she and what does she know, anyway?

Hello, and welcome to Pastry Chef Online. It is my hope that you find a lot of information here: answers to your questions, dessert ideas, how to make creative substitutions within the confines of chemistry, how to elevate a home-style dessert into a show stopper for a special dinner party, and resources (both brick and mortar and online).

So, what qualifies me to help you? I was a teacher for sixteen years before making the radical career change to pastry chef three years ago. I quit teaching, and with the full and unwavering support of my wonderful husband, Jeffrey, applied to the closest Le Cordon Bleu Program, and graduated with honors a year later.

I have decorated cakes professionally and taught Wilton Method cake decorating. I have been the Pastry Sous Chef and Acting Pastry Chef at a fine dining restaurant in Winter Park, FL. Most recently, I helped clean, set the dessert menu and open a new upscale gastropub in Central Florida as the Pastry Sous Chef. Currently, I've taken some time off from the kitchen to get ready to move to a new state. I still enjoy teaching, and this website gives me an outlet to continue to teach. So, thank you!

This is me the first day at culinary school...................and this is me at graduation.

On the journey from short hat to tall hat, I learned many things. One of the most important things I learned was that I already knew many things from being a passionate amateur baker for years before I officially "took the plunge." (Another very keen thing that I learned in culinary school: you can put plastic wrap in the oven! More on that later). I have read literally hundreds of cookbooks. Early in my quest, I was interested in books with pretty pictures and lots of recipes. As I grew as a baker and as I still grow as a pastry chef, I found myself looking for information about techniques as opposed to recipes. I began to feel that recipes were too narrow and did not always allow me to express myself. The search was on for ways to express my creativity without having my creation flop!

I was looking for, well, this site. Or a site like it. There are many baking websites out there, and most of them are very good and offer an exhaustive encyclopedia of recipes. That is wonderful,

and I have visited some of these sites in the past and will continue to do so. What does this site offer that makes it different from the others? I want to present you with a pastry toolbox. In it, there are the basic tools--your hammers and flat-head screwdrivers of the pastry world. Recipes and techniques that can be the basis of countless cakes and other desserts, complete with recipe variations and permission to try your own variations! Then, you've got your specialized tools--recipes and ideas for sauces and garnishes that can elevate the everyday into the extraordinary. There is also a section on making over your home style desserts into restaurant style show-stoppers. This section offers advanced techniques and not-so-advanced tricks to put your desserts over the top. Last but not least, there is a comprehensive listing of links to sites offering restaurant-quality supplies and ingredients, as well as to other sites that cater to folks in the baking and pastry industry. Whether or not you're a professional baker or pastry cook or chef, I hope you find this site useful and informative. I've tried to make this site as easy to navigate as possible. Use the buttons to the left to reach the main sections of the site.   From there, each section has its own set of buttons, and you can always get back to the home page from wherever you are. So, welcome, and enjoy!


                                          What You Won't Find on This Site

As I said before, there are a wealth of cooking and baking resource websites out there, and it is not my intention to have my little site take the place of all of those other sites out there. So, what you won't find is an encyclopedia of recipes. You won't find all sorts of information on cake decorating. There are no bread recipes, even though Bread is my favorite food group. I don't get into any laminated doughs (croissant, puff pastry, etc), either. Please visit the Links page for a comprehensive listing of sites you can visit to find information if what you're looking for isn't here. Or, you can e-mail me here, and I will be happy to answer any questions you might have or point you in the right direction. New! We now have a forum to facilitate communication. Yay! Find it here.

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