When Jennifer McClure was working as a graphic designer, she loved bringing baked goods to her ad agency colleagues. “I kept getting more and more elaborate with decorating, and eventually they started saying, ‘you really should just be charging for this’,” she explains, and realized they were on to something. That’s when she decided to go back to school for a Culinary Arts degree and become a professional baker.

After several years working in a Las Vegas bakery as a bakery manager and cake decorator, Jen and her family relocated to Wisconsin in 2012, and she now spends her time sharing her knowledge with aspiring bakers in the FVTC Baking & Pastry Management program.

Learn more about Chef Jen in our FVTC Faculty Spotlight.

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What classes do you teach?

I teach everything from Science of Baking, where we talk about ingredients every week and how they work, to Advanced Cake Decorating. We've got three cakes classes which I teach, and also Baking and Pastry 1 and 2, which are management classes.

Why did you decide to go into teaching?

I wanted to step away from the hours that I had as a cake decorator. At a bakery, you’re there until the cake is done. I wanted to teach others what I knew, though, and hopefully impart some cake decorating expertise in Wisconsin.

What do you enjoy most about the classes you teach?

I love seeing how my students have those aha moments when I'm teaching them something, especially when you get into advanced cake decorating—the ‘Oh, that's how you do that!’ moments. It’s great seeing that on their faces.

What’s one piece of advice you have for students?

Learning life-work balance. That was really hard for me at the beginning in a bakery. It's sort of why I shifted careers, because in this field, we like to be in control of our product, and sometimes we need to just let other people work with us so that we can get it done and still spend time with other people.

What’s the best professional advice you’ve ever received?

One of my instructors encouraged me that I needed to be able to let things go. Teach people what you know, so that they can help you, and you can make everything in the bakery work smoother and better.

What skill are you currently working on?

There's a couple of new-to-me methods that I'm working on for cakes. We're used to these 3 or 4 standard recipes for frostings and buttercreams, but there are couple of frostings that I'm going to introduce into the classes. I want to try them out first before I share with the students.

What’s one thing about you that might surprise your students?

I am a huge punk rock fan. We were actually just joking about that today. Sometimes in the morning I'll have a song playing in my car, and I want to listen to it until it's over. I might have it on too loud and I look over and there'll be one of my students staring at me because they can't believe I'm listening to that kind of music. I am also friends with a couple of punk rock bands back in Vegas; my favorite band is The Implosions. Their songs are all about Vegas.

What do you like to do outside of the classroom?

I have a studio now where I go just so I can do my artwork. I do a lot of watercolor and acrylic painting. I have a studio art degree, so I'm trying to get back to that. It keeps me creative.

What’s your favorite thing to bake?

My favorite thing to bake? It's not cake. I like decorating cake. But my favorite thing to bake… I love making pretzel rolls and I usually bake bread at home.

What was your first job?

My first job was I was at this pizza place in my little city that I grew up in. I was a member of the wait staff in front, but they taught me how to make pizzas when we were slow. It was a good start.

What was your best job?

I really loved my time at the bakery in Vegas. Before that, I was in graphic design jobs, but once I started baking, I got to work with my hands again and be creative. I love making things for people for special events. It's all about celebration.

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Check out our video interview with Chef Jen including her answers to our lightning round!