Collection

I love the challenge of packing a lot of flavor in a dessert that weighs only 10 grams. Okay, maybe a bonbon isn’t a dessert but it is one of life’s sweet little pleasures. That is the burden of a chocolatier; being able to deliver a ton of flavor in something so small. I found……...

I am super picky about my ingredients. I will never apologize for being snobby about ingredients. For me, everything counts. Having good recipes, using good techniques and using great ingredients is a strong foundation for a great career as a chef. Surrounding yourself with strong purveyors is extremely important. I had a chef friend many……...

When you run a chocolate business, one of the keys to success is maintaining your inventory. This means leveraging your money correctly. But that can be risky. If mismanaged, this is the number one thing that can sink any business.  You have to put a lot of money into packaging and all of it is……...

I was lucky enough to enter this profession long before beautifully made up television personalities held the title of “Chef.” If you asked a young person that is just starting their career who their favorite chef is, they would likely say Giada De Laurentis or Guy Fieri. That is their only exposure to the profession……....

Until I take my last breath, I will dream about opening a small artisan ice cream shop.. I can picture it in my mind’s eye; It would be pure and simple. An odd mix of concrete floors, brick walls, a Pozzetti cabinet storing the ice cream and sorbet in stainless containers propped up to display……...

There isn’t any shame if you’re opening tubs of commercially made praline paste and marzipan. I do it myself. It depends on the usage though. If I am making the Rice Krispy barre, I will gladly open a 5 kg tub of smooth praline paste. The praline in that recipe is important but it isn’t……...

I have always told my cooks that traveling to Paris, arguably the world’s capital city of pastry, is one of the essential things that they must do. I am shocked when I find out that a majority of pastry cooks and pastry chefs have never been to Paris. There is no other way to truly……...

When I stepped into my very first kitchen, I had visions of creating masterpieces of edible art. I had seen every episode of Great Chefs on Discovery and I was sure I would be emulating the chefs that I admired by painting plates with perfectly made sauces, constructing desserts that reached from the table to……...

Despite my lackluster highschool career, I actually love to learn new things. Maybe school bored me. Perhaps it was just the hubris of being a teen. I didn’t really understand why I needed school. Both of my parents were high school dropouts and neither of them could convince me that school was preparing me for……...

I have always loved yogurt. So much so, I have found several usages for yogurt  in desserts. To me, the mission of transforming the public’s perception that yogurt is more than a breakfast food or a healthy snack has been a fun mission. Throughout the many years of my career, I have utilized fresh yogurt……...