Jeffrey Cagnes in Paris, France

Jeffrey Cagnes, Owner

Origins

I was 14 and pastry was an escape for me from school. I knew it was a good job and it grew on me. Just from eggs, flour and sugar you can create something delicious and something new. Soon, I was good enough to start helping other boys. I’ve always liked to be a mentor.

Company Mission

My main goal is to share passion with all people around the world through pastries. I am a bad vendor, because I give all the time the pastries to people to try a sample. I want my team to believe in their smiles, like they feel it, because then we give that to the customers.

Signature Products

We have many pastries that people love, but the one that is most important to me is the Citron, the lemon tart. My mother likes this cake. My family is very important for me. At every place I worked before I started my own shop, the first thing I did was change the recipe for the lemon tart to make it how she likes it. The lemon tart is a tribute to my mother.

Production Tips

Not physical production. Use your influences. My family has many origins. My father was from Casablanca. My father’s father is Sicilian, Catholic. My father’s mother is Jewish. My mother’s father is German. Her mother is French. In my family, there is Muslim, Jewish, Catholic. It’s very important for my cakes. They are all the product of my origins: milk from here, honey from there, somewhere orange blossom that I love. All that I learn in my life I try to put into my pastries.

Equipment ‘Must-Haves’

My hands. Ten years ago, I was a chef in a pastry shop and I was holding many interviews for an apprenticeship. One man came in who had only one hand. My boss at the time tried to tell me, “You can’t take that man because he has just one hand. It will be an issue for you.” I said, “let me judge after I see him work.” After one hour, I saw that this man was so motivated, so fast and so thorough that he was doing the best work of all the new people. From that day, I thought okay, it is possible to do everything with just one hand. You can have the nicest kitchen with shiny equipment, but you will not succeed like that man with one hand who has a passion and a feel for his work. One time, he was working so well, he was piping cream and I asked him if he used his right hand or his left to pipe, forgetting that he only had one hand. He told me, “I appreciate you, because you forget my disability.” It’s possible to do good pastry with the eyes closed. The passion and the flair matter more than the machines.

Secret of Success

Trust yourself, listen to your heart and make your motivation. Ever since I started making pastry, I would say to myself, maybe Pierre Herme will surprise me to come taste my work, so it has to be perfect. He’s a big personality in French pastry. He has 20 or 30 books. He has a big aura. It’s good to have such a dream for motivation. Also use quality. In my croissants I use honey, not sugar. I work with a beekeeper named Julian. His bees make hives all over the world. Also, we use Lescure butter from France. For me, this butter is like champagne. Concentrate on quality. Don’t make pastries for Instagram.

Future Goals

I dream to open in Casablanca for my father, and also some day in the U.S.. As a boy, my first book was from the U.S. with the large photos, the big canyon, the tall buildings. I taught master classes in Chicago, but I love New York. So much energy. Manhattan is magic. I wake up at 4 o’clock and I want to run outside. There is not a limit for business there. All is possible. But you cannot be too proud in a new place. You have to adapt to what people like. Maybe I make my croissants with donuts and a pastrami sandwich.

Photos by Caroline Mays

For more info, visit www.jeffreycagnes.fr

(This article appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)