Hi, I'm Leslie! Welcome to The Baker's Almanac.
Here on the blog, I share mouthwatering dessert recipes and baking tips to help you bake with confidence.
While I started out as a hobby baker, I grew my skills by attending pastry school and eventually working at a high-end restaurant in New York City. But above all else, nothing makes me happier than teaching and inspiring others to bake.
Get to Know Me Quickly
Location: Boston, Massachusetts! I live with my husband, our one-year-old daughter, and our two rambunctious Abyssinian cats.
Education: A Bachelor's degree in History from New York University & a Grand Diploma in Professional Pastry Arts from The International Culinary Center. I documented my entire pastry school experience here on the blog, and you can read all about it here!
What's your all-time favorite dessert? Such a hard decision to make, but I'd have to go with a freshly-baked chocolate croissant.
What kind of content can I find here? Here at The Baker's Almanac, I'm passionate about empowering you to become a better baker. You will find:
- Unique, mouthwatering dessert recipes that will satisfy any sweet tooth
- Baking tips and tricks to help you learn and master all kinds of complex baking techniques
How long have you been baking? I've loved baking my whole life. When I was younger, I remember helping my grandmother make her famous sugar cookies, and I would devour as many as I could in one go. I would always jump at the chance to bake cupcakes for my classmates or whip up a loaf of banana bread with my sister-in-law. And now, baking is one of my favorite ways to unwind and spend time with family.
Hobbies (outside of baking, of course): Binge-watching British TV shows, running, traveling to new places, playing tennis with my husband, cuddling with my cats, and reading.
More About Me
While I've loved baking my entire life, I didn't really get serious about it until I graduated college. I found myself spending all my weekends baking elaborate cakes from scratch and meticulously decorating sugar cookies, and I realized just how much I loved it.
After thinking about it for a long time, I took a leap of faith in 2018 and enrolled in pastry school at The International Culinary Center. For nine months, I worked my 9-5 job during the day and went to school at night, learning how to make everything from pâte à choux to macarons. And I loved every single minute of it.
Diploma in hand, I got a job as a pastry cook at a high-end restaurant called The Dutch in New York City. I learned how to make seven trays of biscuits at one time and handle 400 covers during a busy brunch service. I also had the incredible opportunity to learn baking tips and recipe development from some of the most incredible chefs in the industry.
After hanging up my chef's whites, I started sharing my passion and love for baking here on The Baker's Almanac in 2019. I want to pass along all the knowledge that I've learned over the years and show that making macarons and éclairs isn't as hard as you would think. Now, I work on The Baker's Almanac full-time, and I get so much satisfaction developing recipes and seeing so many people recreate them all around the world.
So, I hope you'll stick around — let's bake something delicious together.
Let's Stay Connected
Let's be friends! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. You can also subscribe to my newsletter to get all my brand-new recipes and baking tips sent straight to your inbox.
Last but not least, if you try out any of the recipes here on The Baker's Almanac, I would absolutely love to see your creations! Feel free to tag @thebakersalmanac in your Instagram photos and stories, and you can also use the hashtag #thebakersalmanac. I will be sure to share all of your photos so that others can get inspired as well.
Happy baking!
Leslie's Favorite Recipes
Not sure which recipe to try out first? These are a few of my favorites:
