Today we travel to Chateau de Gudanes 18th-century château in the commune of Château-Verdun, where Jennifer Pogmore is one of the chateau’s cheffes de pâtisserie.
Jennifer who originally hails from Worcestershire, England originally worked in the marketing field when she decided to make the move to Paris. However, after being wooed by exquisitely decorated windows of Parisienne pâtisseries, she decided to attend Le Cordon Bleu.
In this interview Jennifer shares about her favorite dessert to create, the greatest lesson she learned during her time at Le Cordon Bleu, what it was like visiting the Chateau de Gudanes for the first time and more.
When you first moved to Paris from England, you were working in Marketing. How long had you been in Paris before you released that you wanted to go to culinary school to become a pastry chef?
When I first moved to Paris, I instantly fell in love with French cuisine and in particular, the desserts. I found the windows of the pastry boutiques spellbinding, and would spend my free time walking around Paris discovering places and trying as many cakes as I possibly could.
I hadn’t initially considered training as a chef; but as I felt such a passion for food, I began to experiment on some projects at home such as trying to make my first macarons and making choux pastry for the first time. I found the more I foraged into the pastry universe and the more I discovered, the greater my desire to learn. And so, after 4 years of living in Paris and saving every penny I had to go back to school, I left my marketing job and officially embarked on my culinary adventure.
What is one of your favorite pastries to create?
I enjoy making so many different things, but one of my favourite ingredients to work with is chocolate. I love working with tempered chocolate, I find the intricacy of chocolate decorations and the art of chocolate sculpture making fascinating. I love using chocolate in my creations and my all-time favourite dessert is the Black Forest Gâteau.
What was one of the greatest lessons you learned during your time at Le Cordon Bleu?
I of course learned just how much butter and sugar really goes into French pastries!
But the greatest lesson of all, was learning how to rely on my senses and my instincts in my baking, and not just on my equipment.
Where did you intern following your graduation from Le Cordon Bleu?
Once I graduated from Le Cordon Bleu, I interned for six months at the pastry boutique of chef Carl Marletti located in the Latin Quarter of Paris.
The experience was life-changing. I was able to put all my knowledge from my studies into practice, understand how to produce on a larger scale, see first hand the every day workings of a pastry shop, learn the creative process for developing a new dessert and experience my first Christmas as a pastry chef.
Lilac Cake
Following an internship and working at pastry shops around Paris, you had the opportunity to return to Le Cordon Bleu as a teacher. What was it like being on the other side of things?
I found being an instructor at Le Cordon Bleu to be one of the most enriching experiences of my career. Having the chance to teach students, having not so long ago been a student myself, gave me a different perspective on the learning process. I found sharing my knowledge and expertise was as rewarding for me as for my students and I learned an enormous amount from all of them too. Accompanying the students on their culinary journey, one that I had myself made at that very same school, and even having the chance to work alongside some of the teachers who had taught me years before, was incredible.
You now work at the gorgeous Chateau de Gudanes. Tell me about when you first visited the Chateau and what it was like seeing such a beautiful place in person for the first time?
I first visited the Château three years ago for a few days. Stepping through the wrought iron gates and walking up the pathway was nothing short of breathtaking, and the short time I spent there left the most lasting impression. I met the owner of the Château and was completely taken with her openness and warmth, and by the inspiring journey on which she had embarked with her family to restore a Château in ruins.
The Château itself is beautifully raw, and for me it held a real sense of wonder, a strong magnetism and an other worldly inspiration. Needless to say, I quite simply fell in love.
Renaissance Cake
Since joining the culinary staff as one of the cheffes de pâtisserie at the Chateau… What are some of the most elaborate pastries that you’ve created for events?
My favourite project was when I joined the team in 2018, and we all worked together to host the first wedding that the Château had seen in over 100 years. After months of planning and a week of baking, for the wedding day we covered 6 metres of table in one of the Château’s salons with branches, tree stumps, flowers and moss foraged from the grounds.
We made over 40 desserts and placed them on a variety of cake stands, plates, tea cups and saucers, creating an enchanted forest of cake. Seeing that work come together was simply out of this world and the most elaborate project I have worked on to this day.
What is the best part about preparing for a large scale event at the Chateau and working together with others on the kitchen staff?
The best part for me is really working all together as a team and to have such incredible synergy.
When you are making things on a large scale for a big event, there is always a certain buzz at the Château, and there is an energy in the air that inspires and fuels us. And while there always tends to be an obstacle or two in the way (ovens breaking down, cats eating the fruit tarts the day before the wedding), we always come out the other side and I think, we always surpass even our own expectations and our imaginations.
Dandelion Jam
Since you are in a remote area of France, how difficult is it to procure supplies for both the chateau and yourself personally?
Despite being in a remote area, we have amenities around and are able to make the most of the wonderful local produce available. The neighbouring village holds a beautiful market every Sunday, and there is a local shop, boulangerie and delicatessen that stocks locally sourced products such as cured meats and cheeses.
The incredible seasonal fruits and vegetables of this region can be sourced from the markets and directly from the producers if we cannot grow it ourselves in the gardens. We find that especially in this area, the desserts in our cuisine take up quite a botanical influence using the seasons and surrounding nature as true sources of inspiration.
During the lockdown you created delicious pastries and jams featuring various botanicals (ie lilacs) that you shared via your Instagram. What are of a few of the recipes that were your personal favorites?
I think my favourites were really the jams.
I learned this incredible technique for rose petal jam, whereby gently massaging the rose petals releases the colour and fragrance, giving the most natural and well-balanced flavour.
The biggest surprise was the dandelion jam, a commonplace garden weed that transforms into the most wonderful honey and apricot-toned flavours in a jam that is super easy to make and delicious on everything.
And finally, I had the privilege to spend my birthday at the Château, albeit in lockdown! So, using the lilacs in bloom and the strawberries in season, I created a birthday layer cake inspired by the gardens around me and true to the light and floral flavours of spring.
Rose Petal Jam
Follow along with Jennifer via Instagram @jenniferpogmore
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