Bake. Dedicate. Create.

Taylor Siok

Bake. Dedicate. Create.

I think I was lucky enough to find my passion really young and keep going with it. I definitely feel like everyday I’m putting a part of me into the world and it’s awesome.

When Taylor Siok took a trip to Germany with his dad to visit a former exchange student and his family, he didn’t know his whole life would change. “Our first day there, they had this huge plate of croissants, pain au chocolat and breads. They also had some sweeter things like macarons, a couple of chocolates, three or four different jams and a bunch of different cheeses.”

A smile crept across Taylor’s face as he recalled that first morning.  “It was a moment that I can vividly remember. Going down and seeing all that and thinking how incredible it was. We were about to enjoy all of this and somebody provided this for us. I wouldn’t be having this experience if it wasn’t for whoever created that.”

After that trip, the rest was history. After high school graduation and with the support of his family, Taylor decided to go to a top culinary school in New York to become a chef. “I actually originally went to culinary school with the thought that I was going to do wedding cakes. But I quickly realized that’s not what I wanted to do.” Taylor continued adding, “I didn’t love the idea of other people telling me their vision of what they want. When it comes to wedding cakes, there’s no way to put your own spin on it. People want a rainbow cake with glitter and a unicorn on top and maybe I don’t want to be known for making that kind of cake.”

After figuring out that his passion lied more in making pastries and smaller desserts, Taylor excelled in all of his classes. He loved the repetition. He loved the creativity it gave him. He loved the grind and he fell more and more in love with it everyday.

“In the last couple of years, it’s kind of turned into my own expression of me and it’s awesome to take the pieces of what other chefs taught me, use them, but then have my own influence on pastries and desserts and really refine those into my art.”

Taylor explained there are times when he feels uncomfortable and vulnerable, especially when someone doesn’t like what he’s made. Yet, he uses that as fuel to be better with the hope that he can change their mind. “It’s one of my favorite things when people say they don’t like desserts but really, they’ve just had bad desserts. People think having a huge wedge of cake after a meal is what dessert is. It’s fun to change people’s opinions of what a good dessert is.”

“I think I was lucky enough to find my passion really young and keep going with it. I definitely feel like everyday I’m putting a part of me into the world and it’s awesome.”