Stella Parksaka the BraveTartknows more about cake than most people know about anything.
Do you eat cake for breakfast?
You know, weirdly, Im not a breakfast person.
When I wake up Im still kind of carried over from dinner, and not super-ready for a meal.
How do you fix your coffee?
I usually drink black coffee.
It can also round off the edges of bad espresso if Im not staying near a good coffee shop.
Are you a one-meal-a-day kind of person?
Yeah, Im kind of a dinner person.
Dinner is my romance of the day.
Im just baking so much and testing so many different things.
Having several small bites of various items that are loaded with sugar really does destroy your appetite.
It really screws you up.
Ive been trying to balance things out this year by incorporating more non-sweet baking into my repertoire.
I just did a 100-percent whole-wheat loaf and that was really nice.
Yeah, it is.
And that in and of itself can be a little stressful.
Everything about my diet is very screwy and Im not a model of good health.
Same thing with a pumpkin pie.
So you kind of have to space it out.
Everything about my diet is very screwy and Im not a model of good health.
When you finally do make it to dinner what do you usually have?
Its all these stews and simmered dishes and little bit heartier cuisine.
Im like I dont even want pasta or bread.
I usually just want tons of greens, tons of vegetables, and just an infinite amount of salt.
Im usually kind of low on my dairy requirements.
So I do love me some tofu, especially really really good tofu.
What kind of tofu do you get?
Do you have a favorite brand?
Its more something I have to do to feed myself.
I dont find it stressful; I find all kitchen projects relaxing.
I very much enjoy the act of doing a thing with my hands.
But cooking is so free-spirited, you know?
Hes like Oh my God, Stella, stop.
Grab a clove of garlic.
I want to know!
I dont have that level of intuition to draw from in cooking.
You mentioned that you like to incorporate a ton of salt into dinner.
How many types of salt do you have?
Im not super salt trash.
Ive got my Diamond Crystal for all of my baking.
Ive got Maldon for my table salt.
So I still have that that Im polishing off.
This isnt salt per se, but I do have a fancy-ass bottle of Japanese soy sauce.
Its an important form of sodium.
Besides this fancy soy sauce do you have a condiment or seasoning that you put on everything?
The answer ishomemade chili crisp.
I am freaking obsessed with that.
I had it on a stolen bite of my husbands omelet today.
Are there any prepackaged baked goods that you buy?
There are some things that I do buy out of love, like Pocky sticks.
Those are those are difficult to make appropriately.
Its not like Im going to turn one down at someone elses house.
But typically, if I am going to have one of them, I probably want to make it.
What about savory?
Are there any frozen convenience foods at Trader Joes or snack products that you really enjoy?
I can make everything!
Theyre not terribly expensive at a mom-and-pop shop.
Can we see inside your refrigerator?
Usually its crammed with baking projects, but since I just got back its kind of barren.
Do you have a go-to diner order?
If not a disco fry, whats your favorite style of French fry?
I like classic french fries, although I have a really special place in my heart for waffle fries.
I do love a good waffle fryso much good texture.
Do you have a movie theater snack?
Im kind of just a buttered popcorn girl.
I want all the fake butter.
I want all of it.
Do you make popcorn at home?
But I have a deep and abiding love of popcorn.
Its such a pure and delicious food.
I like several varieties of popcorn and I dont get to enjoy them as much as I want to.
Im set on butter.
Do you have go-to sad meal or cant-even meal?
For me its two different questions.
I cant even think about it.
How do you eat with all the traveling?
I will generally have something like a banana and a coffee in the airport.
Food doesnt soothe me in that way.
Im thinking about it too much.
Ill be like this is crappy or this is poorly seasoned.
Its not satisfying to have that part of your brain offering a critique.
This reminds me of my one, perfect, pre-made food item, which is of course Biscoff cookies.
I wouldnt change a thing.
Its just a banana.
It is what it is.
This reminds me of my one, perfect, pre-made food item, which is of course Biscoff cookies.
I wouldnt change a thing.
I guess Id choose Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
Im sure I would choose cheap unsalted American butter for my fat.
One source of acid, huh?
Thats a tough one.
I love all forms of acidic things.
Am I choosing professionally or personally?
Ill let you do both, because Im very benevolent.
Okay, this is a whole new breakdown.
My professional acid would probably be lemon juice.
I would definitely have my Maldon salt, and my fat would probably be some fancy-pants olive oil.
It would be in my salad, it would for dipping things, and drizzling things and cooking with.
And my acid would probably be a really good apple cider vinegar.
I didnt actually know there was such a thing as good apple cider vinegar.
Its so perfect and delicious.
I want to talk about how much you hate sous vide cooking.
[Laughs] The most!
I understand why you hate it in your line of work.
It seems like it could be completely useless.
Its kind of hard because I have this fragmented pastry psyche.
I get sous vide; its useful.
If youre like I need to poach a bunch of pears sous vide, great!
It definitely has its applications.
you’re free to temper chocolate with it if it’s crucial that you.
There are totally valid and good ways to use it.
So if you dont have the resources to poach some pears, sous vide is great for that.
I also appreciate the evaporation that happens in a lot of recipes.
I would rather do my creme brulee in the oven but I know not everyone agrees with that.
But sous vide is a really great way to melt chocolate while ensuring it never goes above its threshold.
You know, thats why you cant just toss chocolate in the microwave.
Youre going to overheat it and its going to come out of temper.
With sous vide you’re free to throw it in really low heatlike 80?
and melt the chocolate without ever causing it to lose its temper in the first place.
Thats all I would need it for at work.
So you dont think its a good method for dipping strawberries?
If youre into chocolate-covered strawberries, I think that would be fine.
I think people kind of dont mind a thicker coat of chocolate.
I cant do chocolate-covered strawberries, so I cant speak to that personally.
Its like a phobia.
Its the texture of a juicy wet strawberry and the texture of like crisp creamy chocolate.
It deeply bothers me to have both of those in my mouth at the same time.
Its absolutely horrific for me.
The strawberry is so cold and then the chocolate doesnt melt right in your mouth.
I mean when you put it that way, I dont know that Im into it anymore.
[Laughs] Im sorry my horror completely derailed our conversation.
Whats the one thing you wish all home bakers knew?
The one thing I wish everybody could understand is that not all all-purpose flours are the same.
This is not a regulated term.
Some are high in protein, and some are high in starch, and vice versa.
So I always try and specify in my recipes what kind of flour Im using.
And I think some people get a little salty.
Thats just one of the reasons I do not envy your job at all.
Theres so much chemistry going on that so many people are just not aware of.
Every ingredient is that kind ofis it a heavy cream or light cream?
Is it homogenized or not homogenized?
But, at the end of the day, with baking there is a lot of skill involved.
It still takes some practice and some experience.
Baking is so intertwined with special occasions.
Its like knitting your first scarf.
Im sure Id know the word for that, if I were a knitter.
Baking is like a lab experiment or a lab procedure, right?
Scientists will do an experiment, and then it has to be reproducible.
And someone else in the lab elsewhere has to be able to confirm that the thing can be done.
And its kind of wild to think that theres someone whos like Yes, its confirmed.
It absolutely can be done.
That doesnt mean youre good at it or youre going to do it on your first try.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
