The Mind of a Pastry Chef

The Mind of a Pastry Chef

by, Billy Mumphrey



 

Being a pastry chef can be a thankless job. You get up even before the roosters crow to prepare a days work that’ll last until after the sun has gone down. You put in hours of work only to have your greatest creations just disappear, but the faster they go, the better you’ve done your job. Vermont Pastry Chef and Stylist, Kristi Tursi, has spun three generations of Hungarian pastry tradition with some worldwide travel and has now landed back in Vermont opening and running her own bakery, The Little Red Fox Bakery.

 

Tursi, who has ties to photography and other art forms, has used her ideas and family background to create some of the most detailed and exquisite pastries you’ve ever seen. Her creations have been featured in the biggest cooking magazines including Gourmet Magazine and others. Her creativity and out-of-the-box thinking has led to amazing creations.

 

 

Local Big Time wanted to pick her brain and see how she came up with some of the amazing pastries she brings to life. Here it is:

 

 

 

1. What made you want to open a bakery?

 

Tursi: I was living in NYC, working full time as a photographer and stylist. To relax, I would bake cakes in my apartment on weekends. Over time, I started styling my baked goods and I would create my own mock editorials. I really loved the creative process of baking, styling, shooting and editing my work and soon realized that I could translate all of these elements into my own business. About a year later, I decided to formally establish Little Red Fox Bakery. Having my bakery “born in Vermont” was important for me as well; I wanted to use all fresh, Vermont sourced ingredients (maple being key!)…

 

 

 

2. Opening a bakery in Vermont might be difficult because there aren’t that many people in Vermont, what do you do to combat that?

 

Tursi: When I first started my business, I joined Vermont Specialty Foods Association. It’s an association of members who have established specialty food businesses; all with a focus on premier Vermont ingredients. The products produced in Vermont are sold throughout the US (Cabot Creamery, Lake Champlain Chocolates are some of the bigger names). Vermont might be small population wise, however, the popularity of Vermont made products has a broad reach throughout the US. I’m also a food stylist and focus my work on weddings and specialty events. This gives me the opportunity to market my business to people who not only live in Vermont year round, but to people who wish to have Vermont as a destination location for their special event.

 

 

3. Your food designs are highly artistic, what inspires you creatively to create a new piece?

 

Tursi: A lot of my inspiration comes from my travels and the experiences, both artistic and culinary, that I have encountered. Eastern European and Viennese pastry making is very artistic. Pastry chefs there make an art of the decorative in pastry making. In Budapest one of the famous pastry chefs built a table-sized replica of the entire Hungarian Parliament from marzipan. Impressive. I also love architecture and I’m inspired by how structures are part of a landscape. I view my plate or platter as an empty landscape and I build into it. A cake is never just a cake.

 

 

 

 

4. When exploring a new concept, how do you translate the ideas from your mind to a final masterpieces you would “eat” rather than just observe?

 

Tursi: I started photography as a hobby when I was about 13; it’s a discipline where you need to be exact and creative with your subject, light and perspective to elicit a certain response. When I bake sweets, I know that the cakes and cookies taste great, and that I need to translate that emotive response via an image. I’m always considering how my products will make someone want to indulge in a treat! I usually use lighting that is warm and inviting and focuses on the baked good. Sometimes, I will create environments in my photos where the viewer sees people sitting together, relaxing, enjoying a special treat, and having a good time. I try to create emotional responses that resonate with the viewer; the image should invite the viewer to want to partake and be a part of. 

 

 

5. What is the largest influence in your life that would lead you to express yourself as a Baker rather than a Painter or Writer? 

 

Tursi: I’m both a pastry chef and a stylist so you might say that I express myself artistically in the creation of an edible dessert and then I create an environment that showcases it in a setting that complements it. I draw on my photography and fine art background. This is very satisfying because the object changes as does my interpretation of it in the creation process and then secondly in the rendering as stylist.

 

Check out The Little Red Fox Bakery Website HERE!

Check out The Little Red Fox Blog HERE!

Little Red Fox Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littleredfoxbakery/

 

And here are some photos of Kriti Tursi's Work at Little Red Fox.