CLARA ADAMS
Baker, Pangea Kitchen
Growing up in a family of food-lovers, my passion for baking started in the kitchen, cooking next to my loved ones. A lot of my inspiration also came from cooking and baking shows. During my homeschooling, back when I was still trying to figure out Algebra, I would often turn on Ina Garten on the baking channel and see new recipes that I wanted to try. Once inspiration hit, I would just head to the kitchen and start baking, Algebra could wait.
For me, the reward of baking comes from how baked goods make people feel. I love the happiness that a cupcake can bring to someone who is down or not feeling well. Seeing everyone’s excited reactions to the treats we have out in the case at Pangea is an awesome experience as a baker.
My family and I have always been fans of Pangea. When my parents were planning to be missionaries and move to Italy, we were always looking for interesting restaurants. Once we found the Italian desserts here, we were hooked. As soon as my mom tried Pangea’s gelato, she said that it tasted just like Italy. After that discovery, we would come in all the time to have some gelato. On one of our visits to Pangea, I remember asking one of the employees,
“Can I work here? How can I work here?”
Then, a couple of years later at college, they were handing out applications and mentioned that Pangea was offering a baking position. I applied and ended up getting the job.
“It’s so crazy to think that a few years ago I was asking how I could work here, and now I’m here. It’s like a dream come true. I get to bake. I get paid to do what I love.”
When I started at Pangea there was a lot to learn. In the first couple weeks I jumped behind the counter and gained a whole new perspective on everything, from how each item is made, down to the unique steps we take to create each dessert. I gradually started learning more about the gelato machines, because there are a lot of different settings to understand and get the hang of.
My personal favorite baked good is the chocolate truffle creme brulee. The torched top is so good. I’m a huge chocolate person. Yea, I’m a baker, so I have a sweet tooth, but it’s pretty extreme. Sometimes I take home broken macarons and eat way too many. That comes from my parents, we’re all huge sweet tooths at my house.
One of my favorite parts about my current position at Pangea is making macarons. I love coming in early by myself, listening to some music and baking the morning away. Making macarons is such a fun process and a great way to be creative. We are always experimenting with new, popular flavors. If Sarah and I see a new idea for a flavor, we jump in and start playing around with it to make something new. I love getting creative with new ideas and flavors.
The great thing about working with Sarah is that she always wants to hear our ideas. Sarah and Randy are both always open to trying out new recipes. They encourage us to try new things that interest us, so we really get to experiment and find new items to bake and incorporate into our menu at Pangea. The salted caramel tart we did for Thanksgiving was inspired by a recipe that a coworker and I found. We thought it looked delicious, so we used that as a starting point and added our own twist to make something unique for Pangea.
I’m really excited about future opportunities at Pangea, especially with the new bakery opening up. It’s going to be a whole new adventure for me. It’s awesome that we will be there baking from the start, before the doors are officially open. This bakery is going to be totally unique to Evansville, just like the ramen shop. That’s what really drew me in to Pangea, there’s not really another restaurant like it around here. My coworkers all come from different backgrounds and it’s a really awesome environment to work in.
Expanding the Future with Clara
Sarah Bruggeman - Pastry Chef
When we were looking for another person to join our team, Clara came in and you could immediately tell that she loved baking. We bonded over that shared passion during the interview and she started soon after that. My biggest thing with any employee is being open to criticism, taking it, and striving to do better. She is great at that. She didn’t come in claiming that she knew it all, and she was willing to learn. Over the past year she has really stepped up and shown me that she means it. There have been moments where she has been pushed out of her comfort zone and she has jumped right in and done a really great job. Everyone has witnessed how great she handles different challenges that come up, and I only hear positive things. She cares about what she’s putting out and she wants to know that she is doing a good job. She is.
I’m really lucky to have her and I’m excited for the future ahead with her because I can tell that this is what she wants to do. I’m so happy to have someone like that on my team, and to be able to grow with her as we expand.
“You just get good feelings about people, and I’ve always had a great feeling about her.”