Patricia Austin

Patricia Austin began her lifetime love of baking as a young child helping her father make pies in the family kitchen. At age seventeen, she became a croissant maker, and later worked as pastry chef assistant to Jeffrey Hamelman in Brattleboro, Vermont. From 1989 to 1995, she co-owned and operated the Bread Tree Bakery in Keene, New Hampshire. In 2005, Patricia founded her cottage industry, Wild Flour Vermont Bakery. She also works as a baking consultant, and recipe developer and tester. Her most recent projects include recipe testing for world-renowned pastry chef Pierre Herme's book Pierre Herme Macarons, as well as dessert testing of the MasterChef series cookbooks. While Patricia follows a gluten-free diet, she continues to create both traditional and gluten-free French, European,and American-style pastries. She lives in southern Vermont.