Elsa, Recipe Developer

As a Betty Crocker Chef/Recipe Author, Elsa spends her workdays doing what she loves: spending time in the kitchen. She started cooking and baking in grade school and eventually went to pastry school in St. Paul. “My heart is in French pastry,” says Elsa, who worked at several bakeries in the Twin Cities before moving into recipe development and food styling.

Elsa loves the attention to detail that goes into developing a recipe. “It takes a special amount of attention and care to create a recipe that works in someone’s home kitchen,” she says. “So many recipes out there haven’t been tested. I make sure my recipes always work, no matter a home cook’s skill level.”

Because of dietary restrictions in her family, she’s become an expert on gluten-free baking, too. She enjoys experimenting with different gluten-free flours to make the perfect treat—and she’s excited about the possibility of developing more gluten-free recipes for Betty Crocker in the future.

Her philosophy on cooking and baking is that it should be fun. She has one key piece of advice for home bakers: “Measure accurately and always level your ingredients in the measuring cup!”