Picking out ingredients, creating new and exciting flavor combinations, the aromas coming from the oven, and watching people’s faces light up when they take the first bite drive Michele Sweeney to create and educate.
Michele is passionate about all things delicious. Her impressive and extensive education includes a degree in multimedia design, training at Chez Boucher, The Wilton Method, and work with top sugar artists and chefs from around the country. Michele’s earliest and perhaps the most influential lessons in the kitchen came from three generations of women that came before her. From her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother, Michele learned to cook, bake, and decorate with love.
Michele spent summer vacations working alongside her mother, a professional cake decorator, learning the ropes while dropping an occasional tray of doughnuts. A well-stocked glass jar filled with Grandma’s famous cookies fortified Michele’s interest in baking and decorating cookies. Grandma’s special recipes later became a top-seller at Michele’s bakery and earned her heart-warming feedback while competing on The Food Network show, Cake Wars: Christmas.
Michele carried the momentum of her earlier culinary experiences into another passion, teaching. Not only does she teach in-person, hands-on classes all over the country, her online platform, Epicurean Delights is a wealth of information. Recipes like her Angel Food French Toast and Candy Bark come with handy instructional videos and printable recipe cards. Epicurean Delights also features maker ideas, networking opportunities, and a place to share creations. Be sure to check out her site for fall favorites like Apple Cider Doughnuts, and her upcoming video for Salted Caramel Apple Pie. Yum!
To say Michele is busy would be an understatement. She has her own line of edible products for use in culinary art. She competes, and is a member of the Federation of Pastry, Ice Cream, and Chocolate. Michele will be coaching the 2019 Cake Designers World Championship in Milan Italy. She also volunteers with Icing Smiles, an organization that provides custom celebration cakes to families impacted by the critical illness of a child.
To honor the people and recipes that influenced and encouraged her along the way, Michele is currently working on a generational cookbook with her mother. Which of course, includes Grandma’s cookie recipes.
Do you have any special family baking memories? Share them in the comments!
