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In baking and pastry making, is it important to have a general understanding of the role of ingredients, especially the primary ones of flour, eggs, sugar, butter or fat, and liquids in regards to ratios?

The Chef Instructor's Playbook

Char Nolan & Dan Marek - The Chef Instructor's Playbook

Recorded

This event was on January 13, 2026

Chefs Dan Marek and Char Nolan are set to share their experiences as community and food educators in the culinary arena in this event that is designed to educate aspiring instructors with details to create a fruitful cooking class. This energetic and informative live event will equip participants with the skills to prepare, organize, and teach a successful cooking class. From crafting the perfect menu to engaging students with interactive lessons, attendees will gain confidence and excitement, ready to share their passion for cooking with others. Chefs Dan and Char will also share “tidbits” that they have used over the years to streamline a cooking class–from finding “the best” parking spot, to a pre-visit of the cooking facility to learn the “lay of the land.”

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Question

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In baking and pastry making, is it important to have a general understanding of the role of ingredients, especially the primary ones of flour, eggs, sugar, butter or fat, and liquids in regards to ratios?

Answer

I think that, um, you know, baking is one of those things that I consider an exact science. You need to have precise measurements of all of your ingredients to be able to make sure that the, the final dish comes out the way it should. And cooking something like doing a saute or a stir fryer, let the rules are much more loose. You can go outside the lines and color outside the lines as much as you want to, and by the end, you're probably still going to have a great dish. But if you're adding too much fat or too much butter, or too much baking powder or something to a dish, uh, or a baking dish, it's going to dramatically, um, change the, the outcome of that dish. So, uh, especially on baking and pastry, make sure that you're really following the, uh, the recipe on those to be able to get the, the best quality final, uh, recipe. Mm-hmm. Anything to add to that shi? Just that if you, you're using sunflower butter as your nut butter for an ingredient, do not be freaked out when your cookies or your banana bread turn Hulk green.

Char Nolan & Dan Marek

Chefs

*Char Nolan* is a serious crusader for plant-based education, armed with a degree in public health from Philadelphia’s Temple University. She teaches nutrition and plant-based cooking throughout Philadelphia, and in many underserved communities. Char holds a certificate in plant-based nutrition from eCornell and completed Rouxbe’s Plant-Based Professional Certification course in 2015. In 2019, Char completed post-graduate course work in social media marketing at the University of the Arts. When she is not cooking or teaching, she manages social media accounts for several plant-based influencers. Char prides herself on learning everything she knows about cooking from growing up in her grandparents’ Italian restaurant. Her favorite vegetables are Brussels sprouts and kale, of course. Char originally hails from Queens, NY, but has lived in Philadelphia most of her adult life. She is a former Peace Corps Volunteer. *Dan Marek* is a chef educator who has been teaching vegan and vegetarian cooking for over 15 years. At Rouxbe, he is our Director of Plant-Based Culinary and Development where he helps develop content, classes and builds courses for many of our partners. Dan is a board member of Slow Food Austin, the Institute of Child Nutrition, and Conscious Capitalism. He has earned his BA in Journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and holds certificates in Nutrition from Cornell University. Prior to his role with Rouxbe, Dan worked with Whole Kids Foundation training teachers and food service at schools across the country on nutrition and culinary best practices. He also worked as a Healthy Eating Educator at Whole Foods Market’s flagship store in Austin, TX, was a personal chef for some of Austin’s elite business people, taught classes in culinary techniques at Austin Community College, The Natural Epicurean, and Le Cordon Bleu. Dan also regularly volunteers cooking or speaking about nutrition for the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Marathon Kids, Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin and Central Texas.