Self-described “revolutionary Pastry Chef with a healthy sweet tooth,” Chef Vanessa Musi is opening a vegan bakery and pastry school in Austin, Texas.
On her website, Musi announced that she is focused on penning a healthy baking cookbook and “opening the best healthy pastry school.”
Expected to open in May 2019, the bakery and school will showcase how plant-based desserts can be low in fat and sugar, and still taste delicious.
Using simple, plant-based ingredients, Musi loves to bake banana bread, scones, muffins, brownies, carrot cakes, fudge, and other traditional confections. She typically uses soy, almond, coconut and oat milk in her recipes, and swaps out eggs for chia or linseed, butter for coconut oil, and goat cheese for almond cheese, nutritional yeast or tofu.
Speaking to Notimex, the chef explained, “We use the best raw material in the world, in addition to many Mexican products,” adding, “It’s a better proposal for a healthy lifestyle.”
More than twenty years ago, Musi was diagnosed with hypoglycaemia, a prediabetic condition commonly known as low blood sugar. “I’ve been creating this type of pastry for 27 years and I did it after I was diagnosed with hypoglycaemia,” she says. However, while acknowledging the need to make her baking healthier, she stressed that “I am a pastry chef and… flavor is the most important thing.”
The classically-trained chef claims that her low-sugar pastries are even more delicious because they are richer in texture and flavour.
“I want to create a better option, which tastes as good or better than a traditional pastry shop and I think the world is looking for this everywhere,” she said.
Musi has trained chefs and entrepreneurs for twenty-six years. According to her website, she personally organized more than thirty workshops catering to “thousands of bakers from pastry chefs to home bakers from Brazil to Cancun.” Her products are also stocked in pastry shops worldwide.
Musi describes herself as a “trendsetter,” and given the growing popularity of vegan baking, it seems that she is.
Plant-based pastry schools are taking off. Startup company Physalis Vegan has launched an online school focusing on plant-based pastries and desserts. Belarusian vegan chefs Sabina Hambarava and Alexey Korotkevich run the courses, teaching students how to perfect their unique recipes using organic, plant-based ingredients. Plantlab also offers an array of vegan pastry courses, catering to professional chefs and weekend warriors.
Image credit: Vanessa Musi
