American chef, author, teacher and TV personality, Julia Child, once said, “Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”
Local bakers Emma Zglinicki of Slinky’s Cakery, Eszter Sanchez of Cookie Creations by Eszter and Janine Jones of Just Desserts say baking was a pivotal part of growing up and remains – as Child might say – tremendously important in their lives today.
For Zglinicki, Sanchez and Jones, passion comes in the form of a red velvet cake with white chocolate buttercream, a carrot cake cheesecake or dark chocolate peppermint cookies. These women have mastered their craft without a team of baker’s assistants, pastry chefs or restaurant utilities. In fact, their talent comes straight from their own home kitchens. All three started learning to bake at a young age. The best education they could garner was from family members passing down baking knowledge.
Do you have what it bakes to be a pastry chef? Westerville Magazine asks about what it takes to master this sweet career.
Westerville Magazine: What first inspired you to start baking?
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Emma Zglinicki
Emma Zglinicki: My dad asked for a chocolate cake one year for his birthday. It’s always super-duper special because his birthday is on Christmas Eve. We try and make him feel a little more special because he shares it with Christmas. I baked the cake for the first couple of years and every year after, I wanted to improve and make it better. From there, I realized it was fun and became a passion for me.
Eszter Sanchez: I was surrounded by a lot of women who baked, including my mom and grandmas. One of my grandmas was a pastry chef so it was something that was embedded into my childhood.
Janine Jones: I’ve been baking since I was little and come from a family of people who like to bake. My grandma and mom would set me loose in the kitchen and let me do my own thing and have everyone in there be my guinea pigs. It was a lot of cookies, pies and homemade birthday cakes – always from scratch.
WM: Why did you decide to start baking from home?
EZ: I like being my own boss, I’ve worked in bakeries before, but at home, I have more control. It’s all my recipes and it’s nice to do it in the comfort of my own home.
ES: Baking was a new outlet for me, and when I moved to Columbus, it allowed me to stay home with my children, but still have my own business and thing to do. I’m the cookie lady for my friends and they always joked saying I should start a bakery.
JJ: It’s all on my own time and schedule, and just makes it feel so much more personable, too.
WM: How do you continue to learn and evolve your baking?
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Janine Jones
EZ: I watch a ton of YouTube videos to up my decorating game and practice my skills a lot. Nowadays, there are so many new ways of doing cakes. I love experimenting with new flavors and looking for local products to use whether it’s a spice market or even a honey grower.
ES: Quite frequently, I take online classes to learn new techniques. I always try new things and experiment to see how they turn out on my own, too.
JJ: I am obsessed with doing new things all the time. People will ask me for strange things that I’ve never heard of, like a traditional Italian rum cake, and I’ll do the research and find what they’re looking for.
WM: What useful tips and tricks would you provide to the aspiring baker?
EZ: When I first started, I thought it was more like cooking where you could throw in a dash of this and that and get away with it. I realized it is 100 percent not that and it is so scientific. You need to be super exact with your measurements. Get a scale instead of cups and spoons to measure out, it makes all the more of a difference.
ES: Patience is everything. It takes a long time to get a hang of the techniques, but you do improve a lot over time. I was very impatient at the beginning with wanting to be there and wanting to make those amazing cookies. I am far from perfect and have a long way to go.
JJ: Just keep going, put yourself out there, find new stuff. It took me forever, I baked for years for my kids and family.
WM: What are some of the challenges you face with baking?
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Eszter Sanchez
EZ: Baking with alcohol can be very finicky, say for instance I am baking with a rum for a piña colada cake. It is super tricky to work that in and there’s a lot of trial and error.
ES: I have a strict baking and decorating schedule, so I first make sure I’m only doing this when I know my kids are in school or my little one is napping so they aren’t involved in the baking part. I always keep extras for them so they know that those are the ones they are allowed to touch.
JJ: For me, it is probably time management. And that problem is probably because I hate telling people no. I love to be accommodating and give each client exactly what they want but that takes a lot more time. I am a one woman show.
WM: What is your favorite dessert when someone wants to bake for you?
EZ: If they can do something gluten-free like bread or cookies, because chocolate chip cookies that are good and gluten-free are hard to come by for some reason. They’re there, but most times aren’t great tasting.
ES: Cake. I can be great with cookies, but for the life of me, I cannot make a cake. I am a huge chocolate lover.
JJ: My mom still to this day bakes me a birthday cake every year; she has a traditional three-layer chocolate cake that is delicious.
Rocco Falleti is an associate editor. Feedback welcome at rfalleti@cityscenecolumbus.com.
