ME
NU
caro•the pastry chef
The path that led me to healthy pastry is anything but linear. After graduating from college (Master's degree in English and literature ), I started a career as an English teacher. After 10 years, I felt an urge for change and adventure.
I'd always had a (very) sweet tooth so I naturally turned my attention to the world of pastry-making. Between 2010 and 2013, while working as a full time English teacher, I completed internships with various pastry chefs in Strasbourg (my home town), during weekends and school holidays. Pastry had a total wow effect on me both visually and tastewise. I was discovering a world of new flavours and all the baking secrets. I decided to take vocational training certificates as an external student to become a qualified pastry cook, chocolate maker and confectioner. In 2013, I left teaching -and Alsace- for good to devote my full time to pastry-making.
Thanks to Thierry Mulhaupt (Relais Desserts, Strasbourg), I joined Luc Guillet's team in Romans-sur-Isère (26). Later, I went to discover the pastry chefs in Lyon: Délices des Sens and then Le fournil de l'Opéra (Éric Kayser). At this point, after only a few years of constantly snacking all day, I realised how detrimental sucrose was to my health. I became officially "addicted" to sugar.
I discovered, under the half-amused, half-horrified gaze of my colleagues, extravagant and forceful urges for crunchy praliné.
I also learnt at my expense that sucrose could cause arthritis: my fingers become crooked and sore, which is not exactly ideal when your job entails piping!
The idea of a different kind of pastry began to take shape: healthier and more caring, but still delicious! It is Sylvie, a friend who will become my partner in the Pssst! adventure, who finally convinced me to take the plunge. Lactose and gluten intolerant, she challenged me to create a menu of desserts that she could eat.
This was followed by numerous pastry experiments and tastings, but also the need to gather reliable and documented information on the ingredients and cooking methods to be used. I then decided to complete a 2-year course (Healthy and sustainable nutrition) with the SIIN Institute (Scientific Institute for Intelligent Nutrition). The Pssst! project was under way with the desire to help people with a sweet tooth like us! Our ambition? To develop healthy desserts that can be eaten without frustration and guilt.
sylvie•the teammate
My career was linked to dancing and singing, which naturally led me to ask myself questions about the quality of the food I was eating. On the one hand, how to avoid gaining weight because dancing requires a great deal of discipline so that the body is always at its maximum physical capacity, and on the other hand, how to curb various allergies and inflammatory conditions linked to gluten and lactose intolerance. It was also out of curiosity and because the medical profession was powerless to cure me of hiatal hernia, except with gastric bandages, that I turned to raw food... By trial and error, I managed to cure myself and I discovered a new way of cooking as the seasons went by, but I was always frustrated by the quality of the desserts offered!
I met Caroline through a mutual friend and she very quickly appeared to me as an "explorer" in pastry, curious to test new flavours and create healthier desserts. An idea suddenly popped into my head : "ask Caroline to make delicacies that I can eat without feeling guilty". As time went by, a menu of desserts was created and we wanted to share it with pastry-lovers all over the world!
My pastry skills are very limited, except in the role of the taster, but I quickly found my place as the "camerawoman" and editor of the video films that enrich the Pssst website and networks on a daily basis! I am also in charge of the administrative part and especially of the relations with you, subscribers and customers. Caroline can thus concentrate totally on her explorations, her creations and express her inventiveness!
Pssst ! is a human adventure that has only just begun, but I hope that it will change people's minds and bring happiness and conviviality to the people who follow us. We hope to persuade them once and for all that having a sweet tooth is not a mortal sin! Thanks to Pssst! recipes, baking becomes a guilt-free pleasure!