Karina Rivera: Sweets with a Smile

Karina Rivera Teaches, Travels and Bakes with Infectious Joy

Karina Rivera’s glow lights up the kitchen.The Mexican- born, Miami-based chef, teacher and consultant brings a sense of joy to her work. From long hours on cruise ships and hotels to baking for royalty and victorious moments against pastry royalty, Rivera keeps frosting her desserts with passion and love.

The Q & A

Were you interested in pastry when you were growing up?

My first approach to pastry was watching my mom baking pies — cheese pies and also chocolate. Every time she finished a cake or a pie, she gave us the whisks of the hand mixer with a little bit of frosting. Then one day I told my mom, “I want to learn what you’re doing.” I was eight when I got an Easy-Bake oven for Christmas. When I realized what I could do with a small plastic oven, I was thrilled. I remember the aroma of those vanilla and chocolate little cakes and frosting them and putting some sprinkles on. That gave me a lot of joy.

How did you make the decision to study culinary arts?

When I was in high school, I was very interested in pursuing this as a career. But some people told me it’s different doing it as a hobby than doing it as a profession. So my mom and my dad paid for a diploma for pastry and culinary at a small school near my house. When I did the pastry one, it felt like home. It was hard work, but I never struggled as I did in regular school. I did a six-month diploma and then I did a one-year culinary arts program. Then I got a 90-percent scholarship to pursue my four-year college degree at Anahuac in Mexico City. It was a beautiful part of my life.

You worked on cruise ships. What was that experience like?

I had taken a cruise when I was 15, and I remember thinking it was so cool. There was so much food, with the carving stations and big buffets. It actually was a goal for me since the beginning. When I interviewed for a job, I was so nervous and excited at the same time. When I got the offer letter, I was over the moon. Of course, my parents were freaking out because I was young and I was going to be working on a ship. My sister was living here in Miami. She took me to the ship and it was another world. There were so many people from so many nationalities — people from the Philippines, from India and from all over Europe. It was amazing. I was doing 14-hour shifts every day with no days off. I learned a lot, not a lot about technique, but about working in volume and playing fast.

But I was exhausted. My hands were a mess, my feet were a mess and my back was a mess. I lost so many pounds. I was tired. When I got back, my parents said, “there’s no way you’re going back.” But I told them, “If I don’t go back, then, what do you expect me to do here?” So I started applying for different opportunities and that included an internship here in Miami at the St. Regis Hotel.

What would you say is the thing you learned the most while you were there?

Definitely pastry. I learned precision and details. I saw modern pastry, the chocolate bonbons and beautifully-plated desserts. It was a great learning experience.

You made desserts for the Royal family in Qatar. What did you make?

Actually, the Qatar Royal family owned the St. Regis. They liked the pastries and they wanted to have them at one of their daughters’ weddings in Qatar. They brought me in eight days before the wedding. I was 27-years old. When I got there, there were so many people who had worked there for years and had so much experience and I was telling them what to do. I was so scared. I didn’t know if I could communicate with them. I didn’t want to be an intruder because sometimes it can be really difficult letting someone in your kitchen who you don’t know. But everyone was so nice. I had a full menu. We had tarts. We had plated desserts. We decorated everything, made the buffets, the dessert tables. Everything was so beautiful.

I was eight when I got an Easy-Bake oven for Christmas. When I realized what I could do with a small plastic oven, I was thrilled.

You started to do contests. The first one was the National Spring Baking Championship. They contacted you through your Instagram, correct?

I started Instagram because it was something everyone was doing, so I started taking pictures of my desserts. Then one day someone contacted me from a casting agency saying that there was this opportunity in New Orleans. In the first episode, I didn’t even know what I was doing: Where’s my stuff? How does the oven work? What ingredients are here? Where do I find them? In 30 minutes, you also need to weigh the ingredients, find where the ingredients are, bake and cool down, decorate and plate. It was very challenging because I was not comfortable in the kitchen yet. By the third or fourth episode, I told myself to focus on one detail or one texture that I had to get right. The rest was not going to be perfect. I learned how to manage my time better. It was interesting because it was an American baking championship. I was used to French techniques. I was not used to apple pie.

You also faced Alex Guarnaschelli. What was it like when you were triumphant?

It was 2021. I was not the first choice; the show contacted me a few days before. It was in L.A. I didn’t know what to expect because it was the first season. They explained the concept. There were two rounds and the theme was chocolate. I won the first challenge, so I was able to decide what ingredients I wanted to use and what I wanted to do. I had the option of doing either a romantic plated dessert or a kids’ dessert with carrots, corn or beets. I chose the romantic dinner, and I used caramelized white chocolate and carrots. Then I made a macaron because macarons always give me this romantic vibe.

The tasting was blind. The judges didn’t know if they were having the dessert from Alex or from me. Once during the competition, she stopped by and she took one of the macarons and she told me, ‘Oh, this is so good.’ Then she took another one and this is something that I will take forever. Then I thought: I don’t need to win. I already won. When they told me I was the winner, I was in shock. She was so nice about it. She told me I deserved it. It’s always amazing to work on any project with someone you admire — and more if it’s a female chef.

Can you give me some examples of how you incorporate some of your Mexican heritage and culture into an American dessert.

Every time I teach a class, I tell my students to take advantage of that. It’s only something that’s going to make your desserts richer. We’re never going to think alike, because we don’t have the same background and we don’t know the same fruits. I went to Costa Rica to teach a class about macarons. At the end, I told them to make their own flavor of ganache and they took out this cas that blew my mind because I never heard about this food.

The love I put into my baking is something I learned from my grandma and my mom. As far as ingredients, we use vanilla and cacao daily in pastry. I try to incorporate horchata into different desserts, including macarons. The beauty of Mexican desserts or Latin-American desserts like tres leches or churros is that they might not be eye-catching, but when you try them, you feel the soul. You don’t need fancy decorations; it’s all about the flavor and the texture.

We decorated everything, made the buffets, the dessert tables. Everything was so beautiful.

How did you get involved with macarons because you’re known for those?

A pastry cook in the Sands Hotel named Summer taught me how to do them. And I was so in love with such an intricate process. I started having fun because it was an amenity, so you didn’t have to follow any rules. I started playing around with flavors. I felt that I had the kitchen for myself. It was not only making me happy, but I also found out that I was good at it. I don’t get tired of making the recipe again and again.

What are some flavors you make that would surprise people?

Hmm for macarons . . . horchata, key lime pie, red velvet cake. I also make a caramel macchiato with the caramelized white chocolate, a coffee extract and vanilla and a caramel sauce.

You have a lot of Instagram followers. What do you think it is about you that people really like? Is it your techniques, or your personality that shines through?

That’s a good question. I would say a mix of everything. People can identify with me being an immigrant and then trying to pursue a profession in another country. I’m not only sharing techniques or sharing desserts; I’m also sharing a little bit of my journey. I think people get inspired by that. It’s authentic.

Where do you get your inspirations from?

I don’t look for them. Sometimes I’m in the park walking my dog and with my wife and then I have this moment when I think I want to do this. Sometimes I’m talking with my mom. Sometimes I’m in a restaurant, eating some delicious food. It comes in different forms and different ways. Sometimes when we try to push it so hard, it doesn’t work and I forget what pastry is about. I find inspiration when I let it happen instead of trying to stand out.

When you teach classes, apart from the actual instruction, how do you make the classes fun?

For me, the kitchen needs to be a safe space. It’s very important that people feel safe, comfortable and happy. If you’re strict and harsh, then people start getting stressed out. I try to have a relaxed ambience and I say a joke here and there so people relax and understand that I’m there of course to teach them, but also to have a good time. That helps you to connect with people so they know you have dreams, fears and goals like them.

When they told me I was the winner, I was in shock.

If you were talking to a young person who wanted to choose a profession, what would you tell them about being a pastry chef?

First, follow your heart. If this is really what you want to do, if you’re young and have a lot of energy, an ability to stand in the kitchen for 12 hours, then take advantage of that because that’s never coming back. If you want to pursue this as a career, but you also want to enjoy life, there’s going to be a point when you’ll have to make a decision either to keep giving 100% to your profession or start to set boundaries and limits so you can also enjoy life. When you’re young, work in different places and learn from different chefs. When you have enough knowledge and experience in your pocket, you can decide what to do with it.

You founded Women Chefs 305. Tell me about that.

Being a female chef in this industry is not easy. Here in Miami, we needed a community of female chefs and professionals because we needed a mentorship. Most of the events I attended catered to a community of male chefs who were always supporting one another. People would invite me to events and I never wanted to be the only female chef. They would tell me they didn’t know any others, but there is a great group of talented female chefs in Miami. I created this platform in 2017 and I still want to grow this idea, so the community has more events, more support, more resources, and so people can find these talented female chefs.

What about the decision to start your own business? What has that been like?

It has been a roller coaster. When the pandemic happened, I was working at a restaurant in downtown Miami and we were all laid off. Because of my visa, I needed to find another employer to change the visa or I needed to start my green card process because otherwise I would have to go back to Mexico. I was very fortunate because I got my green card in six months. As soon as I got it, I started my business. I started teaching online classes, of course, because we were in the pandemic. I was teaching how to make macarons two times a week.

As the pandemic wore off, people started asking if I could do consulting for a restaurant or a bakery. Then a chef from Costa Rica asked if I could teach an in-person class there, so I started teaching in-person classes. Then there was an executive chef I used to know from the St. Regis who wanted to start an amenity program, so I made macarons for him. Now my business is a little bit of everything.

(This article appeared in the Winter 2025 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)