Welcome to my sweet little corner of the world!
My name is Rianne and I've had a lifelong love affair with all things sweet. I'm a thirty-something stay-at-home mom and wannabe domestic goddess. I live with my husband and two kids in sunny San Diego, California. I created this blog so I can share my recipes, stories and passion for making delicious desserts.
My story:
A few years ago, I was working as a college adviser at UCSD and thought to myself, "I always tell my students to 'follow your passion and success will follow you.' So why am I not pursuing my own passion?" I'm happiest in the kitchen, creating delicious cakes and mouthwatering cookies. Call it an epiphany. Call it a quarter-life crisis. Whatever it was, I needed to do something about it. So I quit my job and went to culinary school. Not exactly the most rational thing to do but looking back, I'm so glad I did it. I have no regrets.
I enrolled in the San Diego Culinary Institute and loved every minute of it. Yes, I almost cried the first day in the kitchen because I didn't follow a recipe for lemon pound cake and it came out flat. But I dusted off my chef jacket and kept going. Over time, I became more comfortable and more confident in the kitchen (and I made sure I read each recipe very carefully). I was lucky enough to train under Master Pastry Chef Bo Friberg and Chef Yves Fournier. I interned at Opera Patisserie where I learned how to make French pastries and got a job at Hans and Harry Bakery after graduating.
I enrolled in the San Diego Culinary Institute and loved every minute of it. Yes, I almost cried the first day in the kitchen because I didn't follow a recipe for lemon pound cake and it came out flat. But I dusted off my chef jacket and kept going. Over time, I became more comfortable and more confident in the kitchen (and I made sure I read each recipe very carefully). I was lucky enough to train under Master Pastry Chef Bo Friberg and Chef Yves Fournier. I interned at Opera Patisserie where I learned how to make French pastries and got a job at Hans and Harry Bakery after graduating.
Unfortunately, my new career was cut short. I had to leave my job a few months after becoming pregnant with my first child because I was having serious complications. I had to be on bed rest for nearly three months. My son was born six weeks prematurely, weighing just a little under 5 pounds. I couldn't imagine going back to work so I decided I needed to put my career on hold so I could be home with him.
While adjusting to being a full-time mom, I continued to experiment in the kitchen. I made my son's first birthday cake and that's how I started getting into cake decorating. Eventually, friends and family started asking me to make their kids' birthday cakes which gave me a chance to apply what I've learned from reading cake books and watching the Food Network.
Before my son turned two, he was diagnosed with multiple food allergies. He was allergic to peanuts, shellfish, fish, eggs, soy, dairy and wheat. I was devastated. I realized that I couldn't even bake him a cake. I literally cried for weeks and weeks and stayed up many nights researching about food allergies and trying to figure what to feed my son. I spent countless hours in the kitchen trying to learn how to cook and bake without using peanuts, tree nuts, seafood, eggs, soy, wheat or dairy. I've revised and adjusted my favorite recipes to accommodate his food allergies. Just in time for his 2nd birthday, I was able to make him an allergy-friendly version of my mom's banana cake. A year later, my son outgrew his wheat and dairy allergies, which made a huge difference in his food options, especially desserts. A few years later, I had my second son and he was diagnosed with dairy and egg allergies before he turned one.
Right now, I'm still experimenting in the kitchen and making desserts for my friends and family. Over the years, I realized how hard it was to find good dessert recipes when you have multiple food allergies. I started out making allergy-friendly recipes for my oldest son (free of peanuts, tree nuts, and eggs) but later turned them into dairy-free recipes as well for my youngest son. I've included an allergy note to each of my recipes to make it quick and easy to find out if they contain any of the top 8 food allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, eggs, soy, wheat and dairy).
What are my plans for the future? Well, I want to continue creating delicious desserts and sharing them through my blog. As my kids grow older, I would love to pursue other projects. Maybe someday, who knows, I get to publish a book. I'll just have to wait and see where this journey takes me. But for now, I'm loving what I'm doing and I hope I inspire others to pursue their passion in life.
Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy reading my blog :-)
Rianne
