Flo Braker, Baker/Educator
Radio Kitchen Profile
by: Michael Reining
Sep 29, 2004
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Flo Braker is a true baking expert. And she shares her knowledge through articles with the San Francisco Chronicle (she's a regular contributor), Bon Appetit, Chocolatier, Family Circle and Better Homes and Gardens. She is also a teacher, having taught for over 25 years. Today she does classes all over the country. Not as much as she "could or should" she says.
But hey, that's what we're here for at The Radio Kitchen. To learn all we can, and share that information with you. For example: Flo gave us the scoop on a couple of kitchen items that are "must-haves" for aspiring bakers.
Flo Braker's Tips
 High Temperature Spatulas
These rubber-like spatulas won't break down under heated conditions (some up to 675°F). Great for working with candies and caramels where the temperature of your food reaches lava-like levels. Or even just folding in to hot pastry creams. These are great for working omelets in the pan as well.
Silicone Baking Mats
 These re-usable baking mats are a bit pricey, but worth it. They keep your baked goods, especially candy or chocolate from sticking to your baking pans.
 An Ultimate Kitchen
There is no sound as grating as a chain saw. That's what was going on next door as Flo Braker and I chatted in her kitchen for The Radio Kitchen. We were undaunted. Mostly because I was in awe of her kitchen.
Her kitchen is a dream. It has all the amenities that a professional could want, and it is still very much a home kitchen. A warm and welcome room in her home. From the layout to the little touches, she really did a fine job in designing it. One of the practical, yet whimsical, features is a wall of rolling pins. That's Flo on the left there in front of her 21 rolling pins!
Flo's kitchen was featured on the Food Network's "Ultimate Kitchens", watch for that episode.
Bite-sized, Teeny-tiny Desserts
What is better than a small sweet morsel? How about 3 or 4? That's part of the philosophy in Flo Braker's book, "Sweet Miniatures" (Chronicle Books). In the 70's Flo was a dessert chef and caterer who noted that people wouldn't spend 10 bucks on a cake, but would spend a dollar a dozen for small pastries and cookies. Thus a cottage industry was born, and a great cookbook. Now in it's second printing.
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