How did you begin your career as a baker?
I have always had a voracious sweet tooth (like since I was a little kid!) and all my childhood memories of grandparents, etc. are connected to sweets (like the Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup we poured over Breyer’s Vanilla Ice Cream with my maternal grandmother and the lemon velvet sheet cake from a boxed cake mix that my paternal grandmother baked up). However, I never had an iota of interest in helping to make any of the sweets I craved or consumed. That is, until I had already done professional stints as an actress, a lawyer and a stay-at-home mom. Not sure what about that moment (post the pursuit of 3 different “careers”) inspired me to get baking, as it were. But, when my boys were tiny (3 and 1), I went into a bakery in my neighborhood in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Baked, and asked if I could work for free in exchange for learning the sweet tricks of the sugar-y trade. Of course, the owner looked at me as if I were crazy: what adult (read: I was not exactly a spring chicken) wants to work for free in a hip bakery in deep Brooklyn, where the median employee age is 22, in exchange for baking knowledge?! But despite the initial hesitation (I had to go back a second time to actually seal the deal with the head baker) they eventually took me on and the rest is history . . .
Tell us about your upcoming baking cookbook, Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes: 100 Easy-Peasy, Savory Recipes for 24/7 Deliciousness!
Eek! So excited for this one – my fourth, in fact. I am the self-professed “queen of easy-peasy baking” (ie: I am really into simple bakes); and although my last book (my third), Snackable Bakes, was all about such sweet bakes, Salty Cheesy is different, as it is all about savory bakes . . . Salty Cheesy encompasses the ethos of its sweet older sister, in that every recipe is assembled in 20 minutes or less, with nothing more than a bowl, a whisk and a spatula; and calls for pantry-friendly ingredients. But, (obviously) the recipes in my new book are different in that they are cheese and herbs and salt focused; and sugar and chocolate play no role. The book was a real departure for me, as I don’t typically develop savory recipes and it was a super cool thing to stretch myself professionally while developing and writing this book. Moreover, I really had to get up close and comfortable with my spice drawer, which was a, well, spicy, experience, in all the best ways.
What’s the best part about the New York culinary & baking community?
I host a baking podcast for the Cherry Bombe Podcast Network, She’s My Cherry Pie, and interviewing iconic bakers from all over the country – but especially NYC - has just reminded me how supportive, smart, knowledgeable and often hilarious I find the community. There are so many fantastic, mind-blowingly delicious bakeries in NYC, that I get to visit on the regular, as well as truly excellent restaurants serving outstanding food (and desserts – Claud Restaurant, I am looking at you and your otherworldly chocolate cake), and I feel so blessed to be able to support and engage with such establishments and the peeps that run them.
You're local to one of the coolest BK neighborhoods, Red Hook! Do you have any favorite neighborhood spots for baked goods?
Well, I got my start (see the answer to #1 above) at Baked in Red Hook, a bakery that specializes in iconic Americana cakes, cookies, bars, whoopie pies, etc. and I still love it for that. But one of the original owner’s at Baked, and the owner who kind of/sort of hired me (though he did push me off on the head baker, not knowing quite what to do with me), opened a place in Prospect Heights, called Ciao Gloria, which is a favorite spot, though not actually in Red Hook . . .
Which of your recipes do you use the most in your own kitchen?
In both Snackable Bakes and Salty Cheesy I have a recipe for a melted butter pie dough which is pretty friggin’ delicious, if I do say so myself. It takes about 5 minutes to assemble (no chilling, resting, rolling, etc. happening here) and I use it constantly when making the sweet pies and galettes from Snackable Bakes, and when making the savory pies, galettes and hand pies from Salty Cheesy. She’s a winner, full-stop.
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