Rachel is a pastry chef and entrepreneur from Orange County, CA. With a degree in Anthropology from UCI, she developed a fascination with the pastry arts and eventually found her way to the CIA’s Baking & Pastry Program at Greystone, graduating at the top of her class. Working in a bakery and several restaurants, she founded Blackmarket Bakery in 2004 in an industrial space in Irvine.
Building a business based on wholesale baking and farmers markets, she also taught classes at the kitchen, on subjects ranging from decorated cakes to pasta, from confections to frozen desserts. Years of this led to a position at Cypress College’s Culinary Arts program, where she taught Intro and Advanced Baking & Pastry for 4 years.
In 2012, Blackmarket Bakery built its first retail store at the eclectic shopping district in Costa Mesa known as "The Camp”. The Blackmarket name was inspired by a WW II era poster about sugar and butter rationing, namely a focus on flavor and technique built on simple high-quality ingredients, plus a sense of humor.
Klemek has also used her culinary acumen and quick wits to be Cake Champion on Chopped (season 43, episode 11). Plus she displayed those skills at a multitude of charity events and fundraisers.
From the deceptively simple creation of a braided Challah to the whimsically eccentric construction of an edible gingerbread Airstream to teaching baking classes to both home-bakers and professionals, Rachel Klemek’s career represents a multifaceted manifestation of her commitment to Baking and Pastry.
Her new chapter began in moving to the East Coast and teaching baking and pastry to culinary students at Johnson and Wales University. To hone her education chops, Rachel is pursing a Masters degree in Education, also at JWU. Spreading the gospel of baking fundamentals, she wholeheartedly embraces this new direction.
