Jennifer Ferriss works at Grinnell College as a pastry chef where she makes day-to-day breakfast pastries, cookies, bars, pies and breads for 1,200 students.  

“I am also the plated dessert expert, so I produce several plated desserts for various catering events on campus,” she said.

Ferriss has also turned her talent into a home-based business – A Spoonful of Sugar. She makes cakes, cupcakes, cookies and bars to order.

“I love baking because it makes people happy,” Ferriss said. “Whenever I show up to a meeting or party, everyone is anticipating what I have to offer for goodies. It’s fun to be known as the treat enthusiast!.”

contributed photo Jennifer Ferriss attended the Chicago Chocolate Academy, which was opened in 2008. Ferriss knew in high school she wanted to pursue a career in the culinary arts.

Ferriss got her start in the kitchen in a local bakery while in high school. She kept gravitating to food-related jobs. In high school, Ferriss was asked to do a report on finding a college, and she thought, “Oh great. Somehow I have to muddle my way through and act like I know what I’m doing with my life?”

Ferriss wanted to make it fun, and picked an “unrealistic goal” culinary schools.  

“I connected with Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts while working on that report, and started to realize it really could become a reality,” she said. “I did a live chat to get questions answered, and it really brought my attention closer to what I wanted to do. A lot of people like baking shows on TV, and people say they want to do it but never follow through or think it would work out as a real career.  I just wanted a fun topic to write about, so I chose food. Little did I know, it would become my future career.” 

Plus, her dad and grandma were always good cooks and bakers.  

“I grew up cooking meals with Grandma for church groups, farm help etc,” Ferriss said. “One night, I was cooking dinner for my family and my dad told me I really had a knack for timing, and I’ve never heard the end of ‘Cooking is all about timing.’”

He was impressed with how well Ferriss worked around the kitchen, making sure everything was ready at the same time. The compliment stuck with her through the years.

Ferriss does not limit herself to a favorite dish to prepare. She enjoys a wide variety and different things to do.

“Some days I can be making something simple like Belgian chocolate and sea salt cookies for students in a dining hall, and the next day I can be plating a very fancy dessert, consisting of seven or more components for 60 people for the Trustees of Grinnell College,” she said. “I truly enjoy my ever-changing pace throughout my career. I get tired of doing the same things and love to try new things and work with ingredients I haven’t worked with in the past.”

Her croissants are a treat people enjoy the most. Ferriss said they are difficult and time consuming, but people really enjoy the finished product.

She might be a professional, but Ferriss is not at a loss of kitchen disasters.

She was once tasked with a plated dessert from executive chef Scott Turley with making a black cocoa chocolate sauce, a pyramid of mousse, glazed in a thin gray white chocolate with a white chocolate spiral garnish that fell perfectly down the side when set and a bright red sticky covered mousse sphere on top.

“The photo he showed me was absolutely beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but think of combining all of those components,” Ferriss said. “Plating it was a disaster. I have steady hands, but you needed way more than that to pull this off. Every time I got one just right, the servers would come grab it and this nearly gravitating sticky red sphere tumbled to the bottom of the plate and smeared all over the other components which were no longer able to use. Chef told me I did a good job, but I still think it was a test of my emotional strength through it all more than anything. Cripes. Never again.”

While she might have considered her desire to bake unrealistic while she was in high school, Ferriss has a different type of advice for people who might be considering more artistic careers.

“Never settle for a job or career you don’t enjoy doing,” she said. “I love going to work everyday and I think everyone should have those feelings throughout their career journey.”

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