If you want to run into veteran pastry chef (and longtime Santa Monica resident) Michelle Christensen, your chances are sky-high at any of the city’s four weekly farmers’ markets.
On a recent stroll through the Sunday market on Main Street, Christensen and her daughter delighted in a pistachio donut and snacked on rustic bread spiced with za’atar. Any pastry stand gets her attention. She makes pies and tarts and scones all the time at home, but she adores tasting what other chefs are cooking up, too.
“I’ve always loved cooking,” she says. “My great-grandmother really inspired me. She was always cooking cinnamon rolls and pies and all sorts of things.”
Christensen has called Los Angeles home since 1993; like so many before (and after) her, she was initially drawn here by the entertainment industry. But after a decade in that field, and a stint as a stay-at-home mom, her love for baking called loudly. She pivoted away from entertainment and “followed her dream,” enrolling in Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, where she earned a degree in baking and pastry.
Hands-on experience had her working for some of the city’s finest bakers, including Zoe Nathan and Suzanne Goin. She recalls 3 a.m. baking sessions — filled with croissants, tea cakes, pies — with fondness, though raising three kids at the same time put her in a particular type of fog. Nevertheless, she was grateful.
When the pandemic hit, Christensen was forced to sit still, and a period of reflection came with that stillness. She devised a new goal: to write a novel. Not just any novel, though. She dreamed up a work of fiction that would draw from her extensive time in the demanding environment of a restaurant kitchen.
“That’s how ‘La Pâte à Bombé’ came to be,” she says. “It is my love letter to pastry.”
Published last June, “La Pâte à Bombé” follows up-and-coming chef Fiona McConnell, who has to prove her worth while working like mad in a Michelin-starred L.A. restaurant. Of course, romance comes into the equation — specifically, with a vintner named Rory — and Fiona has to keep herself afloat as the pressure builds all around her.
“Along the way, there’s a lot of pastry, and there’s a lot of love for her craft,” Christensen said.
Christensen’s dedication to baking lives on in both her writing — she’s currently working on a second book, which centers on another fictional L.A. pastry chef — and in her home cooking. She has three grown children at home (the trio makes up the band Speed of Light), and she’s regularly baking with them and for them. Her latest project is a bread starter she’s feeding daily and has named after the singer Daryl Hall. She says her daughter, Riley, is still keen to join her in the kitchen.
“Kids love to cook, and it’s such a great family experience,” Christensen says. “I think sometimes people underestimate small children and what they can do. Even a 3-year-old can get in there and help out with simple tasks, like grating carrots or peeling apples. In the recipe we’re sharing here, they can grate the butter and zest the lemon.”
To inspire bakers of all ages, Christensen pulled a treat recipe from her time at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica. For the hotel’s Sunday high tea, she baked everything from madeleines and miniature tarts to scones.
“These are proper English scones, and they’re so easy to make,” she says. “Pair them with clotted cream, lemon curd or just butter and jam.”
Tea Time Lemon Scones
(Makes 10-12 scones)
4 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
½ cup sugar
½ cup butter
3 eggs
1 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
Zest of one lemon
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a baking pan (or two) with parchment paper.
- Grate cold butter with a cheese grater and place shavings in the freezer.
- Zest lemon; set zest aside.
- Whisk eggs, then whisk in vanilla extract and cream; set aside.
- Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, salt and cold butter in a mixer on low
speed for about 1 ½ to 2 minutes, or by hand. (If doing the latter, use bare hands to fold in the butter.)
- Add in the egg, vanilla and cream mixture. Mix until combined into a smooth dough (but don’t overmix).
- On a floured surface, roll the dough out with a rolling pin until dough is ½-inch thick.
- Cut dough with a 1½-inch pastry ring to make your 10-12 scones.
- Egg wash the scones, then bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
- Serve with clotted cream, lemon curd or butter and jam.
