Plateau Magazine Feb/Mar 2021

luxury cakes
The Sweet Life
In these pastries, creativity is the main ingredient
By BRIDGET CALLAHAN
Oksana Shchelgachova
PASTRY CHEF AND CHOCOLATIER OKSANA SHCHELGACHOVA
remembers being a child in the kitchen of her family’s restaurant in the Ukraine,
soaking up the aromas and textures of bread and pastries being prepared. At
five, she began learning what she calls the foundations and nuance of the craft
of baking, starting what would become a lifetime passion for the young artist.
34 | ThePlateauMag.com
Any dessert chef will attest to the difficulties
of pastry. Light years beyond what
most of us will ever attempt in our home
kitchen, true pastry art requires deep
knowledge and experience, an encyclopedic
understanding of timing and consistency,
and a near obsessive attention to
detail. Oksana didn’t pursue pastry right
away, graduating first from the National
Art Academy in Kiev.
“But it didn't take long for my passion
for baking to bring me back to pastry. I
obtained my second degree from the Australian
Patisserie Academy in Ryde, AUS,
where I studied under world-famous pastry
chefs. These masters exposed me to the rigors
of creativity and how to demand perfection
from my work,” she says.
While Oksana agrees that her extensive
traveling has not only influenced her style,
she finds herself very happy in the Highlands
PHOTOS OKSANA SHCHELGACHOVA