Paula Comes Home to Chabad

Sometimes in life, you happily end up right back where it all began.

Paula Shoyer, born in New York, spent many hours in her grandmother’s kitchen watching her bake perfect brownies, tall yeast cake, rugelach and other delicious baked goods.

Paula began cooking at a young age, but only after several careers did Paula become a pastry chef and publish The Kosher Baker: 160 dairy-free desserts from traditional to trendy (Brandeis 2010).

This past Tuesday evening, Paula taught a cooking class at Chabad of Seagate and Coney Island which is located in her grandparent’s former house and taught in the very kitchen where she first learned to bake.

Even before “The Kosher Baker” was published Paula was traveling the United States doing cooking and baking demonstrations for many Chabad centers. Paula’s family has been involved with Chabad in Washington DC.

Her daughter Emily is involved with Friendship Circle and her husband, an international trade lawyer, has spent many Shabbos and holiday meals at Chabad Houses around the world.

Last fall, Shlucha Rivky Brikman and Brochi Friedman of Chabad of Sea Gate & Coney Island heard about Paula on the Shluchos network and contacted her to do a cooking class. When Paula asked whether this was the Chabad at 3844 Lyme Avenue, Rivky was surprised to learn that the person she called was the granddaughter of the family that owned the house where the Shluchim (now) live.

The cooking class was extraordinary and attended by over 45 people, including Paula’s mother and aunt who grew up in THE house and Emily, who had never been there. Paula spent the entire afternoon cooking and baking a delicious, healthy meal of caramelized onion and sweet potato soup, soy and maple glazed salmon with salad and cilantro ginger dressing, quinoa with roasted peppers and a cinnamon vinaigrette and finished with a giant 6-layer chocolate ganache cake from The Kosher Baker. You can find many of her recipes at paulaspastry.com and kosherbaker.blogspot.com.

She showed us step by step how to make any layer cake and taught us valuable cooking and baking tips. She entertained us with stories from her book tour, radio and TV appearances this year and inspired us with family anecdotes and sharing news that she arranged for her book to be published in Braille.

In her concluding remarks, Paula told stories about young brides who have written to thank her for her book that has taught them to bake Parve desserts and connected them to their grandmother’s baking traditions. Paula said that “by writing The Kosher Baker, I have become the Grandma Sylvia to a new generation, inspiring them and guiding them, enhancing their lives and Shabbos tables. I think that is what is means by the expression, “may her memory be a blessing”.

Paula is available for booking – [email protected].