I recently had the opportunity to shoot a baking session with Chau and coerced her in to talking about her process for this blog.
Below are excerpts from our conversation; edited for brevity.
On how she ended up in baking: It's a bit cliche when I start with this, but I've always loved food. I have a big sweet tooth and one of the things I always looked forward to for every birthday as a child was cake.
What I love about baking is that it involves both chemistry/science and creativity. You start with simple products such as flour and sugar, and you turn it into a work of art. One that people can appreciate both with their eyes and with their stomach. As a hobby it’s fun, but challenging enough that it takes my mind off the other stresses/worries that I deal with at work or in my personal life.
On simplicity and finding the right balance: One of my biggest goals with baking is to be able to make things beautiful and tasty. I've always found that usually cakes that's are super elaborate and beautiful don't taste as good as a simple fruit cake. Sometimes taste is sacrificed for beauty and structure. For example, I think whipped cream tastes much better than buttercream, but most decorative cakes require buttercream because its integrity lasts a lot longer than whipped cream at room temperature.
On creating for others vs. your own vision: I think you have to do a bit of both. I love the feeling of completing a cake that I've made and designed myself. I also love it when people enjoy and love the cake. Both feel like hard work paying off.
On the future: I'm currently working towards making different types of cakes (European vs. Asian), as well as more elaborate/decorative cakes. I've always stuck to simpler cakes. I'd ideally like to be able to be able to put my own flavours into these cakes and make them look and taste amazing!
One day, maybe when I retire I can have my own little pastry shop.
