Meet Pastry Chef Molly Wilkinson

Photo credit: Krystal Kenney

We’re honored to introduce you to our good friend Molly Wilkinson, a talented baker and pastry chef graduate from Le Cordon Bleu Paris. We recently had the chance to interview Molly and are excited to share it.

We are also thrilled to be offering a live virtual class with Molly on Instagram!

Thursday July 8th at 1:00 pm EDT

Join us for a special live broadcast on Instagram as Molly prepares one of the recipes in her book. Tune in to see which one she’ll make – it’s a surprise!

Read on to learn about Molly’s life in France, her new book and more…

Photo credit: Joann Pai

Originally from Texas, Molly now lives in the beautiful town of Versailles, right outside of Paris.

In Molly’s recently published cookbook, French Pastry Made Simple, she breaks down baking classic French pastries, making it easy and accessible for anyone to follow.

Photo credit: Krystal Kenney

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Photo credit: Claire Emmaline

Interview with Molly

When did your love for baking and French pastries begin? 

My love for baking started when I was super young, from about 3 years old, when I sat by my mom on a stool sneaking bites of cookie dough. I didn't really think of French pastries until I visited friends during a study abroad trip in college. And even then, I ate more croissants than I did pastries! That true love came when I started learning more about them during my studies at the Cordon Bleu. I dived in headfirst and was fascinated with the new techniques and assembly involved with gorgeous pastry creations.

How did you end up in France? What is your favorite part about living there? 

I visited France for two weeks in 2008 and as soon as I left, I vowed to return! I didn’t know how or when, but knew that eventually, I wanted to make my way back. It took seven years until I crossed that pond one more time to follow my passion and see where life took me.

My favorite part about living in France is the food, quickly followed by the culture. The food is incredible. I remember eating scrambled eggs for breakfast every day for a year after discovering how tasty they were in France. That plus lardons (bacon) . . . oh my... it was a great start to the day!

Now my life involves a lot of visits to the nearby farmer's market and pastry shops for "research." I love exploring small villages and chateaux on the weekends and trying out new restaurants. It's a wonderful place to live with so many things to discover and experience.

Photo credit: Joann Pai

What made you want to write the cookbook? What was the process like? 

I wasn’t planning on writing a cookbook, actually, at least not for several years. I wanted to grow and learn and stay in that process a bit more before diving into writing a cookbook.

An email from a publisher in January 2020 was that perfect push to take the next step and create. It took several months to figure out the details, so it wasn't until April 2020 before I got started. Then it was just four very short months before all 60 recipes were due. It was fun. It was crazy. And I already want to do it again.

For each recipe, I tested and re-tested until I felt like it was in a very good state. I was also teaching virtual classes at the time, so I would teach the recipes to my students as well. This made for a perfect testing environment. I would carefully watch how people were making the desserts at home to see if something needed to be described a bit better or in a different way to ensure the best results. This meant that unknowingly, my students were testing them out as well, so the recipes were tried by hundreds of people all over the world before they made their way into the book.

The cookbook quickly became an extension of my classes, reading just like I teach. There are tons of tips and longer descriptions, not to be intimidating, but rather to break down the recipes and make them accessible and easy. It's like I'm standing right there with you in the kitchen! 

Photo credit: Joann Pai

Out of your book, what are your top 3 recipes - the easiest recipe for a beginner, the hardest recipe to master, and your favorite recipe!

The easiest recipe would be the moelleux au chocolat (molten chocolate cake). Essentially all you need is a bowl! The hardest recipe would be the gâteau Saint Honoré (classic French cake named after the patron saint of pastry bakers). There aren't really hard recipes in the book though, just ones that take a bit more time to do. To help with this, I suggest that people make several of the components in advance. My favorite is the tigre (tiger tea cake) because it was one of my favorite desserts to get at a pastry shop, until they stopped making it! I recreated it so now I can have it anytime I want.

MOELLEUX AU CHOCOLAT

TIGRE CAKES

Give us the details! What is your favorite bakery in Paris? 

My favorite bakery is Stohrer! It's considered the oldest pastry shop in Paris and I absolutely love it! The pastries are classic, well made, and delicious! I always get the caramel eclair when I'm there.

Photo credit: Joann Pai

What are you working on now? What’s next? 

Some secret projects - haha! What I can tell you is that there are so many fun things to come! I'm working on putting up recorded classes on my site that go along with the cookbook. You'll be able to refer to them anytime you need a refresher or want a visual to go along with what's written. I'm also planning weekend workshops here in Versailles. Keep an eye out for a fun weekend that combines antiquing and baking!

Where to find Molly?

Instagram: Molly J Wilk
Facebook: MollyJWilk
Website: MollyJWilk.com
MVirtual classes: MollyJWilk.com/virtual-pastry-classes/

Be sure to tune in on Thursday July 8th at 1:00pm EDT for our fun virtual class with Molly on Instagram Live. See you then!

XOXO,
The Fleurettes

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P.S. Want to recreate any of Molly’s delicious recipes at home? Les Fleurs now carries her cookbook French Pastry Made Simple! If you recreate one of her recipes, we’d love to see it: tag us on Facebook or Instagram!