Rebecca Michaels

Rebecca Michaels is the pastry chef and owner of Flying Monkey Patisserie in Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. Flying Monkey specializes in cakes, chocolates, and confections, all made with a European influence but with a distinctive American simplicity. Organic style combined with high quality ingredients is Rebecca's approach to baking. She believes that anyone can create desserts that are uncomplicated and unpretentious but still be elegant and stylish with a little know-how and practice.

After receiving a Bachelor's degree from Columbia University and then a Master's degree in child development, she decided that her future lay in her lifelong passion for baking. Trained at New York's famous French Culinary Institute in both pastry arts and international breads, she has worked in the pastry kitchens of three-star restaurants and bakeries and studied under some of New York City's most notable pastry chefs. Rebecca is the 2005 winner of the prestigious Golden Scoop Award for Best Bakery Recipe, and is a member of the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs association and the Bread Bakers Guild of America. She lives in Philadelphia with her cats, Molly and Puppet.

Rebecca's column The Sweet Lowdown appears every Thursday exclusively on CDKitchen.com

CDK Today with Valerie Whitmore