NYC Cake Girl

RWT

1 comment on A little bit of history…Ron’s that is.

A little bit of history…Ron’s that is.

Today I am wearing my PR/Marketing hat and needed Ron to find a recipe for me that he will be using in a step-by-step story so I can send it on over to the magazine. (I will let you know what magazine and when it’s coming out soon…I promise.)  Even though I have been here for over 4 years, I still find things in our filing cabinet that amazes me.  Ron pulled out an old folder of recipes.  Everything these days are always typed out on a computer.  When I saw Ron’s hand written recipes from when he first started I was really excited.  This is how he started his career in the baking world; this is Ron’s history.  He didn’t have fancy computer or book with his recipes in it.  He wrote on scraps of paper that he kept in a folder.  Some of his recipes have 2 and 3 revisions – tweaking things here and there. The scraps of papers are dirty with splatters of ingredients from long ago…but you know what? We all have to start somewhere…

Some of Ron's hand written recipe cards from when he first started baking.
Like any good student, you must have good reference guides. One of Ron's most trusted is The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. He used his copy so much he actually took it out of the book binding, 3-hole punched it and put it in a binder for easier access. Rose of course has given him newer copies, but this copy in the binder sits in our front office with our other reference books. Ron also had lots of recipes from other people encouraging him to try different things. There is a recipe from Chef Dieter Schorner from 1998 from the French Culinary Institute, where Ron now teaches.
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One response to “A little bit of history…Ron’s that is.”

  1. sweetsistersbakeshoppe Avatar
    sweetsistersbakeshoppe

    I have to say…this post actually brought tears to my eyes! I am a 31 yr old mother to 3 boys. After spending much time and effort pursuing a degree in the medical field I made an abrupt about face after I had my youngest who will be one next month. My love and passion is baking and creating (and tasting). My dream has always been to run a unique bakery shoppe (that offers wine of course) working along side of my sisters (I’m the oldest of 7 children). For years and years I have been told that this is an impossible dream and that I would never be able to make enough to “get rich”. For some reason I listened to these naysayers and have been quiet unhappy working in the hospital and not being able to express myself creatively. But now, I have had the realization that life is way to short (I lost my next oldest sister when I was 15 and she was almost 9) and it shouldn’t be wasted on a career that makes you unhappy! So Ive started baking, with my sister, from my home. I spend much time researching recipes, testing recipes. They literally are handwritten on notebook paper or the backs of envelopes! Stained and splattered with batter and food coloring and whatever else is being whipped up on my trusty stainless steel Kitchen Aid (His name is Bruce). So thank you! For inspiring me to continue down this path, this sweet, sugary, path!

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