099 - Rachel Greenberg Willis, Cakes By Rachel. Does baking have a spiritual side?

Cake Work. With #MeToo Challenges, Baking Triumphs, and Spirituality. Does baking have a spiritual side? We explore this topic among others in Episode 99. Although anxiety-inducing for some, baking can actually be a way to calm yourself down and conquer your demons. Welcome to my conversation with Rachel Greenberg Willis of Cakes By Rachel!

Rachel opened her shop in downtown Crozet in 2015, but she's been baking professionally for years. The story of how she found the shop is so quintessentially of this region I found myself shaking my head in wonder, and making a mental note to take this approach immediately.

This person doing The Work of Food got her start at 18, studying at culinary school and cooking everywhere she could, eventually staging at a Michelin-starred restaurant in a small French town in the southwest of France and cooking for a white-water rafting company in the Pyrenees. What was that experience like? Short answer? IT'S A MUST-LISTEN. As is the story of an epic wedding fail that happened to a colleague. Wow. I'm still thinking about it.

In Charlottesville, she cooked first at The Metropolitan with Vincent Derquenne and Timothy Burgess of Bizou and Thomas Leroy of The Market at Grelen, moving on to work with Gerry Newman of Albemarle Baking Company, a past podcast guest, as well as Harvest Moon Catering among others. What was the Charlottesville restaurant scene like back then? How has it changed? Are the majority of our restaurants for the folks who live here? Or the folks who visit?

As is the story of so many bakers, Rachel got her start when a friend asked her to make a wedding cake. She'd made her own as well as some for Clifton Inn, so why not? It was while in the depths of designing that Rachel found her niche. Here was a place where she could do what she loved while at the same time expressing herself, using that artistic side that needed to come out, the side that was tired of making beef tenderloin the same way night after night after night. Here was where she could shine.

Thank goodness she made the change because her cakes taste amazing and look like stunning works of art. Rachel is a strong proponent of shattering the myth wedding cakes aren't supposed to taste good and her chef's palate and unique flavor combinations reflect that. Believe me, with one of her cakes that myth has been obliterated.  You can choose flavor combinations from the brides who ordered them first or create your own special concoction from the ingredients listed. Me? I'll take the Alexandra: "Almond polenta layers moistened with cognac, filled with raspberry curd and Mascarpone cream. The layers can be iced with buttercream or left open and smothered with fresh berries. Gluten free!" <--------THIS! *heart eyes*

Is it hard to find qualified bakers in Charlottesville? What is Rachel's hiring process? Often folks think baking is a Pinterest board full of quaint cake stands and baby blue mixing bowls with artful poofs of flour lovingly placed on aprons and faces. This is real work guys. You will go home smelling like old cake batter and milk. Your feet, back, and arms will ache. You will need comfortable old-lady shoes. And your apron will look like it's been through the wringer. This. Is. Hard. Work. Dishpan hands come with the territory.

How do you thrive in every environment whether the kitchen is predominantly male or female? How has Rachel navigated #MeToo in her career? Is it okay to cry in the kitchen? There are many women tough enough to handle a male-centric kitchen, but what about the women who might have amazing abilities but aren't as tough? How do we include every gender, color, and personality type in a kitchen and cater to each individual's strengths? As a manager, how do you learn to navigate this, guiding women, when all of your role models have historically been men? We go deep down this rabbit hole.

"You can do it all. You just can't do it all at the same time."

And what about that spiritual side to baking anyhow? Can it be a mental meditation? What do you do if you're anxious about flour? We delve into the philosophical and mental aspects and how raising a rare breed of sheep on the farm she shares with her husband helped calm her down when it comes to challenges.

We're just two crones talking about our diminishing energy levels and how all of the above fits into our personal and professional lives. A great conversation no matter what your age. Because everyone loves cake. Someone give me a fork...

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