Jennifer Husser – Flavor Cupcakery Executive Pastry Chef Employee of the Week!
Harford County Bakery Employee Spotlight!
The awesome FLAVOR girl this week is none other than Jennifer Husser, aka, Jenn. Jenn is the Executive Pastry Chef and Manager of the back of house in both Bel Air and Cockeysville shops! She is a very busy lady with a huge workload.
Jenn’s educational background: qualified in Pastry Sciences, obtaining a degree from Le Cordon Bleu, Orlando, Florida! Since graduating, she worked for a bakery called “Sweet” by Miss Holly. “Sweet” is a 4 time “Cupcakes Wars” Winner! Fast forward three years, Jenn moved to Maryland which is when she came on board at Flavor Cupcakery.
Managing both shops can be tricky and stressful. Her insights to being a successful Pastry Chef, First and foremost, there must be a passion for this business, otherwise there is no soul to the business!
Some of the skills Jenn thinks are important that a Pastry Chef/Baker needs are: knowledge, Baking is a science, Knowing that things have to be done in a certain way, following instructions is key! Also, very important, is MULTI-TASKING. Lastly, having the ability to have a THICK SKIN!
Some of the best things about being a baker: Knowing that you have put out something beautiful! Seeing the smiles on customer’s faces when they pick up a special cake that has been uniquely decorated for a birthday, graduation or wedding! Jenn encourages the team spirit of her coworkers. We interact like a little family, all of us looking out for each other!
Jenn embraces the creativity and innovation that come into such a traditional craft as baking!! A lot of requests that come in are for what’s popular now. For example, the POKEMON craze that has taken over as of late. Flavor created a cupcake to coincide with this latest phenomenon. It is exciting to evolve with the times, another is the STARWARS BB8 CAKE POPS that she and some of the other bakers collaborated on!
Cupcake flavor inventions?? Ms. Husser has created these popular cupcakes: Crumb Cake, Sugar Cookie, Banana’s Foster, Cracker Jack, Kettle Corn, Pumpkin S’mores, and her most recent idea, Caramel Old Bay!
Bucket loads of trial and error is involved in baking. Although Jenn loves this, it is time consuming. Sometimes the end result is great, and a new cupcake flavor is created!! Sometimes, however, this is not the case and unfortunately not all flavors work out. It is disappointing and a lot of time can be lost in this process. So another part of the job is having to be able to accept failure at times!
She may get stressed at times but Jenn articulates she is quite lucky to love what she does. She takes great pride in her team of girls all the girls who are dedicated and work tirelessly. They have a united work ethos: nothing leaves the kitchen unless it is absolutely right! Feedback from customers is always welcome, as Jenn and her team aspire to keep up with their customers new ideas.
On the personal side, Jenn is a very happy lady. She and her boyfriend Joe love spending time with each other when their schedules allow. Joe and Jenn love going to the cinema as they are both avid movie buffs. Traveling, going out for nice meals, spending time with their friends, and just enjoying each others company is what keeps them happy! This is obvious by the glow on both of their faces when they are seen together.
Here’s to Jenn! A remarkable person, whom all the staff look up to! She is so valued and appreciated, and Flavor would just not be the same without her!!
