The last few years have seen something of a “schism” in the world of the decadent dessert. On the one hand, you have the big, bigger & cheaper world of the processed food industry and big box stores, where the ingredient list is as tall as the dessert itself. And then there’s the high-end, “star chef” world, where you’ll find “goat foam cradling a nest of loganberries, handpicked and caressed by eunichs...” or whatever.

Enter pastry chef Rachel Marie, who trained at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America Greystone. There she graduated at the top of her class and was lauded for combining traditional European techiniques with exotic flavors. Her experience includes living in California’s Central Coast and Napa Valley, both wine & food hotspots where many a chef cut their teeth, working for the eccentric Dutchmen of Utopia Bakery and the renonwned Dean & Deluca (one of the few “grocery stores” where people regularly arrive in limos).

Upon moving to Southern California, she worked for Josiah Citrin at Melisse in Santa Monica, then moved to Zov’s in Tustin where she was the morning baker, before starting the Blackmarket in 2004.

But all that fanciness can’t hide the Southern girl who was born just miles from the original Krispy Kreme in North Carolina and raised on biscuits, barbecue and Bojangles. To this day she believes that the bedrock of the dessert world is made of butter, flour, sugar and eggs - the stuff that, in the middle of World War II, women on both sides of the Atlantic would buy on the real blackmarket if the occassion required.

The recipes and techniques of the Blackmarket Bakery probably won’t repair any schisms between factories and foodies, but they do reflect Chef Rachel’s personal journey and personality. So an apricot coulis just might be improved with a little candied ginger and cardamom, but as her grandma Virginia’s recipe says; if you’re going to make a poundcake, you’re going to need a pound of butter.