The first macaron that Elisabeta Jenkins of The Macaron Chef ever tasted was one she made herself. A self-taught chef, Elisabeta was inspired to try the French dessert when she saw colorful photos of them on a calendar.
“I remember sitting at my desk and looking at the calendar and the picture had macarons on it, and I thought, ‘Ok, I’m going to make those desserts!’” Elisabeta said.
Elisabeta, who hails from Romania, grew up with a strong knowledge of cooking with fresh ingredients. When she moved to the United States 20 years ago, she made the decision to change her career and follow her passion of serving quality, unique foods and desserts.
“Being raised in Romania, we did a lot of baking, cooking, raising and growing of both food and animals,” Elisabeta said. “It was very easy for me to put that knowledge to work here.”
After working for 15 years as a chef for Embassy Suites, doing everything from orchestrating breakfast, lunch and dinner for guests to running the back-of-house operations, Elisabeta launched her own bakery, The Macaron Chef, in 2014.
“In the beginning, I was a cottage bakery, but in 2018, I opened my first brick-and-mortar bakery in Fort Walton Beach, partnering up with Chef Jason Jenkins," Elisabeta said.
In 2022, The Macaron Chef opened a Destin location, offering desserts from macarons and tarts, to cake pops and custom cakes. The bakery also offers breakfast and lunch as well as coffee, tea, and even a gift shop run by business partner, Helene Choi.
“We have warm sandwiches and our signature layered cakes covered with macarons on top. And of course, I always have macarons in both classic flavors and unique combinations, such as blackberry lemonade, vanilla chai and lavender.”
In addition to the bakery, Elisabeta and her friend and business partner, Sabina Zunguze, founded The Destin Farmer’s Market this past April. As a small business bakery, Elisabeta explained that Farmer’s Markets have always helped her get the word out about her business.
“I’ve been going to farmer’s markets all this time, that is how I grow my business,” Elisabeta said. “Now I manage a farmer’s market. We have vegetable farmers, fresh eggs, arts and crafts, candles, food trucks and more. It’s growing and growing and becoming very popular.”
The Destin Community Farmer’s Market meets every Sunday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at 15003 Emerald Coast Parkway in the parking lot of Beall’s in Destin.
Cozonac Rolls
Ingredients:
- 2 cups warm milk
- 2 tsp yeast
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 stick of butter (room temperature)
Directions:
Mix milk, yeast, sugar, egg and baking powder and leave for 5 minutes. Next mix in all purpose flour and salt. Mix in mixer for 5 minutes.
Add butter. Mix until fluffy. Cover and let rest until doubled, about 1 hour. After 1 hour, punch to release air.
Divide into 2 loafs, and cut the loafs into small plump shape pieces, roll them in circles and put them into a buttered 13/9 pan. You can braid them as well like a breaded sweet bread. Rest for 1 hour again. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. When they are golden brown, pull them out the oven and rub the top with butter.
“I remember sitting at my desk and looking at the calendar and the picture had macarons on it, and I thought, ‘Ok, I’m going to make those desserts!’” Elisabeta said.