Renee Gilmour has been baking since she was six and quickly eclipsed even her mom鈥檚 baking. 鈥淚 just took to it naturally,鈥� she explains.
The professional pastry chef and creator of Passion for Pastries loved baking so much that, during breaks at boarding school in the U.K., she would bicycle home with friends while her mom was out shopping to bake a cake and eat it warm.
A Cordon Bleu chef school graduate, Gilmour has worked in kitchens in both the U.K. and Canada. She decided to become an independent business person after she lost her job in Ontario. 鈥淚 thought, to hell with this, I鈥檓 not working for anyone else ever again 鈥� like you do when you鈥檙e young! So I decided to start up my own business鈥� supplying cakes to restaurants,鈥� she says.
Passion for Pastries is Gilmour鈥檚 third business. She established her second (Partial for Pastries) in Whistler in 1996 and had a great following at Whistler Farmers鈥� Market. 鈥淚 always sold out鈥� and then I started supplying to Chef Bernard鈥檚 and it just went from strength to strength. No one else was doing pies other than generic pies from the grocery store.鈥�
After moving to Squamish some years later, though, she downsized. 鈥淚 just got burned out from working too much.鈥�
Passion for Pastries started in 2012 and she鈥檚 been a regular at Squamish Farmers鈥� Markets ever since. 鈥淚 started off doing shortbreads and then expanded to incorporate different bars such as lemon squares, coconut squares, brownies and apricot almond cranberry bars,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hat sells the most, though, are my mini loaves. They鈥檙e like muffins in a mini-loaf format and are really easy to store and freeze.鈥�
Her gluten-free cookies are also very popular, as are her vegan options. 鈥淚 do a chocolate almond cookie, which is made with pure ground almonds. It鈥檚 very extravagant to make, and rich 鈥� kind of like a chocolate macaroon 鈥� but there are no flour substitutes in it whatsoever. It鈥檚 a healthier option than buying manufactured gluten-free products,鈥� she says.
鈥淭he emphasis is on being hand-crafted, as well as flavour and presentation, and always using quality ingredients.鈥�
Freshness is also important and almost all of Gilmour鈥檚 products are baked within hours of the market. This makes for some early starts 鈥� even on weekends. 鈥淚t really is a passion, though,鈥� she explains. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to love doing it, otherwise you can taste it in the product.鈥�
For those wanting to get into the industry, she offers some advice. 鈥淒on鈥檛 be discouraged by just one job experience. Sometimes your first job experience can be crucial and it can be a negative one. I鈥檝e seen people have a negative experience and say, 鈥楾his is not for me,鈥� and they never want to go near it again. I would say don鈥檛 let that colour your view of the whole industry.鈥�
Gilmour will be at Squamish Farmers鈥� Market on Jan. 27 at Squamish Elementary School between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. In the meantime, you can reach her at [email protected].
