bake chats with Pamela Thibodeaux
the leauxdown on Pamela Thibodeaux of Deaux Baker
I find it hard to believe that if you’ve found me in this weird little cake corner of the internet, that you also haven’t stumbled upon Pamela’s work as well. Pamela is the voice and vision behind Instagram’s waviest cake page, deaux_baker. Her cakes are art and grain driven, challenging the notion of what cake is “supposed” to be. Every aspect of her cake design, while full of whimsy, is so intentional and interwoven to itself.
Pam is not only slinging cake sculptures in Texas, she also works as a recipe developer for Barton Spring Mills. Today we talk about all things R&D and how things differ when you develop for a business versus developing recipes for your own newsletter.
Hi Pamela! Getting right into it, what does a typical day in your life look like as a recipe developer for Barton Springs Mill?
Lets see here, so I now work from home as the Recipe Developer for BSM. Generally I start my day by checking emails first thing with my morning decaf (yes I am one of those people, but occasionally I will drink the real deal ;)) I then check our sales numbers through shopify to keep up to date with our overall sales and marketing analytics. I'll check in with other department heads if need be. After that I generally begin some research on whatever recipes I am envisioning for the coming month or two months out. How my position works is I always work at least a month ahead, sometimes two-three months depending on the demand of the season. For instance I was working on holiday recipes all the way back in July/August for our exclusive flour bundles as well as the free recipes for holiday. Back to a typical day though, after research I will work on typing up whatever recipes I have tweaked/finalized to then send to our proofreader. If I have recipes I still need to tweak or begin to test I will generally start those around midday. Then lunch and a walk! Then back to finishing whatever recipes I may be testing that day. Based on the day in the month, I would upload the finalized recipes to our website along with copywriting for said recipes. Once a month our content creator and I will spend a long day doing a photo/video shoot of the upcoming monthly recipes. I will then write a script and record voice-overs if a particular recipe requires one such as process videos. That about sums up a typical day! I'll go into the mill on occasion when I need to grab more flour for upcoming recipes and/or for staff meetings with other department heads when I am summoned to attend. At times I head to the store for ingredients and such. No day is truly the same, but that gives you the overall gist!
Was getting into the recipe development space something that happened naturally or was it a career path you laid out for yourself and worked towards?
You know, to be honest I had about enough of working in kitchens in the conventional sense. Tired of standing on my feet for 10+ hours a day, eating lunch on a milk crate in the corner by the deck oven which meant scarfing it down in 10 min or based on whatever timer I had clipped to my apron, and my body basically feeling wrecked all of the time. I knew I wanted to stay adjacent to the baker's life in some way and of course continue to create with food (ASIDE FROM THE CAKES OF COURSE) A friend of mine who happens to be our Head Miller's wife, mentioned to me that the Mill was hiring and I thought well, I worked for them in the past, and had a strong existing work relationship with everyone at the mill (I have been using BSM flours for 7yrs now...and worked a stint at the mill during the pandemic and waiting period of opening AbbyJane Bakeshop as their head baker) so it just made sense for my return. So I did! James (the owner) and I discussed my role and how we could utilize my skill set in a more effective way. Thus, it was decided that after I helped get them through Holidays 2022, I would then transition into my permanent role as recipe developer. All in all yeah, it did happen naturally I guess you can say! That or by some miraculous opportunity laid out for me by the pastry gods....like a beam of sunshine piercing through the tempestuous doom I was feeling. I knew throughout my baking years that I would love to create and develop recipes....so I feel as though it was a combination of sheer luck and pre manifested. Managing production in bakeries was never a career for me long term. I'd rather be creating behind the scenes.
Developing recipes for a flour mill means working with a ton of beautiful grains, what’s a grain/flour you think more people should be working with?
RYE. I think there is this association with rye as 'rye bread' as this dense, boring "healthy food" that the masses mainly fit into that category. That or I have heard it confused with the flavor of caraway seeds (again thanks to rye breads, which by the way are so delicious IMO). It's actually a very versatile grain. It not only is great as an inclusion in yes hearty and dense loaves or open crumb artisan breads, but it creates such a nice flavor and texture in cakes, cookies, quick breads, enriched breads you name it. To me it's like adding a flavor/nutrition boost to many recipes, especially some go-to's of mine. The earthy and malty flavors it presents and the fudgyness in texture it can create goes hand in hand with a wide range of ingredients. It should be treated as the "all purpose" of whole grains really, added as a percentage to many baked goods. From a scientific point-of-view, rye does not have as much gluten compared to wheat and therefore not necessary to measure. It also contains more soluble sugar which speeds up fermentation. Not to mention its long history....it truly is an underrated grain.
Does your process developing for BSM differ from creating cakes for clients?
Yes and no. The main difference when I create cakes for clients is that I base off the flavor profiles around their preferences. I begin my cake consultations with the client filling out my questionnaire whereas with BSM recipes I generally think about the time of year of what people are generally wanting to eat, or what I want to eat really ha! Both processes are based on seasonality, but with BSM recipes I have far more freedom in terms of planning out ideas for both sweet and savory applications.
From experience, I know that R&D for a bakery, brand, or mill can be a bit restrictive, with some level of approval or input from other members on the team. When you're developing recipes for your own newsletter and have a bit more free-reign, what is the approach you take to deciding what gets shared?
There's no true formula to my approach on this. I sort of just go with an idea I have or have had on the back burner and then publish it at a time that I feel makes the most sense. The molten lava cake for example was something I developed last year this time and it didn't get posted through the BSM recipe channel due to a transitional break in my role at that time. I will say that it is a way for me to post recipes that I still use almost 100% exclusively BSM products (I say almost because at times I'll use other brands for certain things like Bob's Red for semolina or almond flour) though it's a way for me to get a bit more creative with some less restrictive ideas. Honestly my restrictions are not too wild with the mill.....more so that I focus to cater to bakers of all levels for BSM recipes and that will also work for marketing purposes for that current season. My recipes for Deaux Baker Speak Easy are just on a whim and what I am feeling at the time. Ideas that are overall enticing to most, slightly inventive but not, nostalgic, fun, and a little trendy that I think my readers will enjoy. Another example of this: I am working on finalizing my wheat berry pudding recipe and another wheat berry recipe that gives a nod to a favorite childhood snack cake...or cookie.....hint hint.
I’m forever in awe of every cake you create, how did the evolution of your style come about?
Thank you Kassie! I can easily say the same of your creations. It just sort of happened really. My very early cakes from 2017-18 are very different and absolutely of that era of cake. Naked and or rustic basically. The more I began to dabble with piping and playing around with flowers the more I realized how much I had been missing with the natural way a flower moves and bends. I was no longer just sticking a flower head on the corner of a cake, I was using the natural curvature of a stem to give it more of the stage. I had been reading a couple of books on Ikebana and found myself immensely infatuated. I decided that was exactly how I envisioned the look of my style. It came so naturally in that way as well. Then the different more surealist movement with piping only seemed to compliment the angles in my floral work. Less about symmetry like we see with Lambeth designs, but bringing the influence Lambeth provided in a more oddball way.
The long winded ruffley squiggle belts are a staple to your style. But, I feel like we all go through phases where a certain technique really has us in a chokehold, what are some other design elements that have you in their clutches right now?
Oh yeah, the undeniable crutch of being creative and sticking to what "works". I'd say the use of the basket weave tip has some love/hate vibes for me lately. I Want to explore it more in different ways, yet it is very much so favored by clients especially for wedding cakes in the use of swoops and long strokes we all are very familiar with. It's becoming so saturated in an almost cringy way, yet so challenging to break up with it altogether. The squiggle belts have been a core element to my designs and while I imagine they will be here to stay for a tad longer.....I am definitely in this mindsight of transcending to other aesthetics I have in mind. Basically recreating ideas and using techniques in different ways. The basket weave tip for example may not disappear entirely, but used in more offbeat ways. For me, it's imperative to progress this way creatively as I am sure you can agree. Creative monotony leaves me feeling restless and uninspired.
Recipe developing and making these insanely fanciful cakes can be creatively exhausting, what are some of your favorite ways to recharge your brain and get those creative juices flowing?
To just simply stop and take an extended break haha. Time is the most helpful way for me to recharge. I go on long walks just about everyday, and that helps my brain to take a breather when I am in it. Yet when I really start to feel burnt out, I retreat to music, film and art. We watch a lot of films, and that in itself is easy to gain inspiration or to escape for a short period of time. I love being outdoors, so I find a lot of comfort in that as well. I would love to travel more if I had the financial means to do so, but I also live in my head A LOT. Simply going to fine art museums during a time off or weekend trips around TX gets my juices flowing again. Oh and of course sleep. I value my sleep time extremely. 8+hrs is my average.
In an intense insta deep dive, I might’ve picked up the vibe you might be a film buff? What are some of the best movies you’ve seen this year?
Haha, I just really like the art of film. It's very inspiring for me almost as much as music is...though they do go hand in hand. Oh hmm lets see, some of these films didn't particularly get released this year and in no order: The Banshees of Inisherin, Fool's Paradise, Babylon, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Eileen, Close, A Bigger Splash then, La Piscine which is an homage of the latter I believe. There's many more I would like to see, and I'm sure some I am forgetting!
Out of sheer curiosity, what is your favorite food scene in a non-food film?
Phantom Thread by P. T. Anderson. When Alma, played by Vicky Krieps, begins to eat her breakfast in an unbothered way while in the Alps on their honeymoon, and her now husband who is a stifling eccentric haute couture dressmaker-Reynolds Woodcock played by Daniel Day-Lewis has a severe aversion to people eating....but he loves her so he basically just huffs and looks away in acceptance. I love how she challenges his existence. Ive heard from others its too odd, but I fucking love that film. That scene basically epitomizes how my husband and I eat meals together. He says I bite my spoon haha.
Finally, if you had to pivot away from working in food completely, what would you do instead?
My road not taken would have been something with either music such as a music supervisor for films (I think we have both stated this to each other before!) or perhaps something along the lines of art curator/historian. Or something in the anthropology realm. Clearly I have a knack for following passion rather than money ha!
If you enjoyed this chat with Pamela, be sure to follow her on instagram (deaux_baker) and subscribe to her newsletter Deaux Baker Speak Easy to keep up to date with the recipes and cakes she dreams up next!
Talk to ya soon, kassie ♡
Wow I loved reading this! From one Pam superfan to another, thanks for sharing this Kassie!