Red Velvet Cake Without Food Coloring: My Naturally Mahogany Recipe
My Red Velvet cake without artificial red dye: natural cocoa, buttermilk, tender crumb, naturally mahogany colour, method and troubleshooting.
Read articleTanya Novak · Pastry Chef
Modern pastry, built on classical technique.
I create cakes, develop recipes and write about the ingredients, techniques and decisions that shape professional pastry.
My approach
Flavour first. Technique in service of it.
I believe a beautiful cake is only successful when it is also a very good dessert. I work from flavour outward: the acidity of fruit, the character of chocolate, the texture of nuts, the quality of dairy, the balance of sweetness and the way every layer changes the next bite.
Pastry Journal
Recipes, ingredients and professional pastry technique.
I use the Pastry Journal to explain not only what I do, but why: formulas, temperatures, ingredient behaviour, troubleshooting and the small technical decisions that change a dessert.
From the Journal
Pastry knowledge to use in the kitchen
Natural Vanilla vs Artificial Vanilla: What Actually Matters in Pastry?
When I choose vanilla bean, extract or vanillin in pastry, what changes in flavour, and why artificial vanilla is not automatically unsafe.
Read articleMilk Powder in Baking: What It Does and When to Use It
How to replace skim milk with skim milk powder, plus what milk powder changes in bread, cake and pastry.
Read articleSelected work
Signature Cakes
Chocolate Tonka & Passion Fruit Cake
Chocolate, tonka and passion fruit with aromatic contrast.
Raspberry & Lime Cake
Bright raspberry and lime with a clean, fresh finish.
Coconut & Mango Cake
Coconut and mango in a tropical, restrained composition.
Pistachio & Strawberries Cake
Pistachio and strawberry with balanced modern pastry textures.
Chocolate & Raspberry Cake
Chocolate and raspberry built around contrast, acidity and depth.
Kyiv Cake
A modern interpretation of a classic cake with crisp and nutty textures.
Pastry philosophy
A cake should not be sweet first.
It should have structure, contrast and a clear flavour idea. Fruit should taste like fruit. Chocolate should have character. Texture should change from one layer to the next. Decoration should support the dessert rather than hide it.
Experience
Training, professional kitchens and more than twenty years of pastry.
I am a Le Cordon Bleu Grand Diplôme graduate and co-founder of Art Bakery & Gourmet. My experience spans pastry production, restaurant kitchens, chocolate work, recipe development, teaching and the daily discipline of making desserts consistently at a professional level.
Marbella · Spain
Made-to-order work in Marbella
Marbella is my current home for made-to-order cakes. Explore birthday cakes, celebration cakes, modern mousse cakes and wedding or event work available on the Costa del Sol.
Art Bakery & Gourmet
Where my pastry work became a business.
I co-founded Art Bakery & Gourmet in Spain as a place for pastry, bread, coffee and food made with the same attention to ingredients and technique. Current cake production, availability, delivery and payment in Marbella are handled through Art Bakery.
Order in Marbella at Art Bakery