If not, well, let me tell you: you’re missing out on a lot!

Let me tell you, there’s a reason why it’s priced that way… and why Food Magazine declared his artisan Ensaymadas as the “Rolls Royce of Ensaymadas” back in 2016 –  it’s SO GOOD!

Of course, there’s more to Chef Joey than just his ensaymadas. If you’re a fan of delicious and indulgent desserts, you’d want to know more about this amazing chef. 

Curious about his teaching and cooking? Well, a blogger calls all his recipes “to die for”, and well, here’s what Bailiwickers have to say about him:

Want to know more? Well, without further ado, let’s take a quick look at one of the most beloved expert chef instructors at The Bailiwick Academy, shall we?

Who is Chef Joey Prats?

Now, Chef Joey Prats is a highly-accomplished chef, so to even summarize his achievements is hard, but we’ll try. Here we go!

Chef Joey is a highly distinguished pastry chef and baking consultant who started baking at the age of 12. He apprenticed in the Attic Inn, a family-owned restaurant, under the guidance of his mother Myrna Prats, herself a very-well known chef. 

Chef Joey earned the distinction of being the Philippines’ youngest Executive Pastry Chef at the age of 20 while working in the Hyatt Terraces Baguio’s kitchens. And after he graduated from Saint Louis University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and Business Administration, he traveled to New York City to further his education.

He got an Associate Degree in Baking & Pastry Arts from The Institute of Culinary Education (formerly known as Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School).

And from there, let’s just say he has done a lot, such as (in no particular order):

• Being one of the people who trained and mentored Chef Miko Aspiras and Chef RV Manabat, two of our TBA instructors
• Worked in different capacities for various restaurants and culinary schools such as Golden Bakery Inc., Puratos (Phil) Inc., The Mario’s Group, Rich’s Products Corporation (New York), Center for Culinary Arts Manila, De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde, The Culinary Institute of Aristocrat, The Embassy of Chocolate (Indonesia) and more
• Has established the Joey Prats Group of Companies – a holding company that houses 3 of his subsidiaries: the Joey Prats School of Baking & Pastry Arts, Joey Prats Ultra Mixes, and Luxury Sweets by Joey Prats, or now known as Froey’s Bakeshop Specialties.
• Various cooking and baking demos such as this one and this one
• Written columns for Food Magazine like this one

Pretty impressive, wouldn’t you agree?

How did Chef Joey Prats join The Bailiwick Academy?

No one knows about this story, but this is how I met Chef Joey Prats. 

Back in 2017, I purchased his recipe eBooks. I was able to do all the recipes which were all good, but I wasn’t satisfied. Because I looked up to Chef Joey, I wanted to meet this amazing chef in person, pick his brain, and just soak in his wisdom!

So you know what I did? I attended his face-to-face class in Paranaque back in April 2017. After the class, I approached Chef Joey and asked him to be one of the instructors at The Bailiwick Academy.

Here’s something you should know: The Bailiwick Academy wasn’t even established yet! But yes, I asked Chef Joey anyway. Hey, you miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take, right?

But if you predicted that he would say no, you’re absolutely right. And it wasn’t even once, it was twice!

But after so many follow ups (seven to be exact), Chef Joey finally said yes to featuring one of his classes: The Artisanal Ensaymada. After that, the rest is history! Chef Joey’s classes here at TBA are now 40, with more to come!

Who knows if he would have joined if I wasn’t persistent, right?

What are some of Chef Joey’s classes?

Do you know why Chef Joey Prats’ classes grew to that amount? My theory is that it’s because some of his classes are the top best-selling classes at TBA – and that makes Bailiwickers just want to learn more from him!

Some of his top sellers here are the Artisan Ensaymada class:

Special Celebration Cakes:

Ultimate Bibingka:

Flaky Gourmet Empanadas:

And Ube Jam!

All these have good reviews from our students. See more of his courses – click here!

Quick lessons from the master chef

One thing I and many other people really LOVE about Chef Joey is that aside from him being an icon in the baking and pastry industry in the Philippines is that he’s a really great teacher! An example here is when a student tagged him inside The Bailiwick Academy Student Lounge asking for help:

He immediately responded with this:

And because he’s an amazing teacher, it’s kind of hard to summarize his various nuggets of wisdom in one blog post. In fact, every time we have him as a guest on our various LIVE sessions, they usually end up going for more than an hour!

Like the time we had what we called Sweet Talk with Chef Joey last year. There were so many value bombs he dropped especially for people who want to get into the food business. I’ll summarize the five major ones, in no particular order:

1. Focus on one product.

When starting out in your food business, it’s best for you to focus on just one product at a time. That way, you can go full blast making it, up to the point that you perfect it and become known for it. 

The best example? Chef Joey, of course, with his artisan ensaymadas! Obviously, you know he’s more than capable of cooking and baking different kinds of food. But for some holidays, he has chosen to focus on his version of this pastry.

And this tip is related to number two, which is:

2. Don’t put too many items on your menu.

You know another reason Chef Joey only wants to focus on his ensaymadas? Well, having too many menu items can be overwhelming for you, especially if you’re just starting out. The end result is that you may find yourself with items that are not as prepared well. 

Also, it can overwhelm your customers with them having a hard time making a decision about what to buy first. And they won’t be able to associate that product with you, which is helpful for marketing purposes. 

Focus on a small, well-curated menu when you’re starting out.

3. Do your projections early.

Did you know that your product pricing should be flexible – but in a way that helps you out? You see, when you buy ingredients from your suppliers, they won’t keep their prices the same all the time. You have to be ready for them to increase your price – and for yours to increase too.

As much as you want to keep your prices the same, can you really afford to not make a profit with your products when running a business? According to Chef Joey, that’s not a good business practice! 

4. Choose products that have long shelf lives and are logistically friendly.

Here’s one thing to help you choose a product to sell: sell something that will last a long time (like his Best Ever Cookies) and something that will stay together even if it’s being transported. That way, you won’t be worried if you need to hire a motorbike or other delivery service and you end up with a driver who’s not a careful driver.

Also, on the off-chance that you encounter a bad day and you only have a few sales, or someone orders from you but is a scam, at least you know that your products won’t spoil right away. You can sell them at a lower cost or something.

5. Treat all your customers well.

This goes without saying, but whoever your customer may be, be sure to treat them well. Don’t discriminate whether they’re celebrity customers or regular ones. Always make sure you give them the best service possible.

Once they become your fans, you might find that they’ll be the ones bringing more customers to you!
Of course, there can be difficult clients, but we’d need more context into how to deal with those.

For more amazing business lessons, make sure to watch Chef Joey’s other videos on The Bailiwick Academy’s Facebook page and YouTube channel!

What’s next for Chef Joey Prats?

Well, you can be sure a chef as busy, as well-known, and as good as Chef Joey will always have plenty of projects scheduled. But as for The Bailiwick Academy, well, you can always expect him to come out with many more courses that will help you turn your passion for baking and cooking into profit!

If you haven’t yet, make sure to enroll in Chef Joey Prats’ courses here.

And if you want the chance to see him demonstrate one of his delicious recipes LIVE and IN-PERSON, make sure to join us at The Bailiwick Academy’s 5th year anniversary!

Not only will you get to talk to Chef Joey, ask him all the questions you want, and see his techniques personally…

But you’ll also get to TASTE his creation when he’s done, as well as take home loot bags that The Bailiwick Academy team has compiled for attendees. I’m sure you’re going to love the goodies inside!

Oh, and did I mention there’s going to be a raffle? And that you’ll get the chance to take home amazing prizes?

And before I forget, not only will you get to talk to Chef Joey and experience his baking, but you’ll also get a recording of his live demonstration. It’s like you paid for one of his courses here at TBA!

Slots are limited to the anniversary though – make sure to get your ticket at the TBA shop!

Chef Joey and I would love to see you there – so… see you there, I hope!

In the meantime, make sure to sign up at The Bailiwick Academy if you haven’t yet and experience our world-class courses!

— 

Keep coming back to The Bailiwick Academy blog for more kitchen tips, tricks, and much more!

The post Chef Joey Prats: The Bailiwick Academy Spotlight appeared first on Online Baking and Cooking Classes - The Bailiwick Academy.

Are you looking for THE BEST ensaymada recipe? Wait… Ensaymada, or is it ensaimada? This popular pastry dish is almost available in every bakery found in the Philippines. Usually it is like as swirl of bread forming a disk shape topped with sugar and in some cases grated cheese. Modern version of these treat are made with cream cheese or with filling or topping.

It is not hard to imagine why it is a popular treat during merienda, or the Philippine version of tea. Soft bread topped with sweet icing or filling then saltiness of the cheese brings contrast to the flavor of the bread.

Buddy Valastro, The Cake Boss tried out our ensaymadas and other Filipino bread when he was here for the TLC festival. He tried the traditional one. He liked the sweetness of the bread and the saltiness from  the cheese. He considered the ensaymada as the best one he has tasted!

Now when he says it is off the hook, it must be that good!

How did we come up with such an amazing pastry? Why the different spelling?

Mallorca

If you search the web the closest one that would pop up is the ensaimada of Mallorca or also known as Majorca. Mallorca,  is sandwiched between the Balearic Sea in the north and the Mediterranean at the south. It is also at Spain’s East and had become its colony.

The entomology of the word ensaimada is quite interesting since “saim” means pork lard in Arabic. The traditional recipe for the Mallorcan ensaimada uses lard. The name ensaimada translates to bread made out of lard.

This may be due to the influence brought about by the Moors. Moors are Arabs from North Africa that conquered most of the Mediterranean including Spain.

The bread is made with flour, eggs, water, yeast and of course lard. The shape, although ours is usually made smaller has the same round and swirled shape such as ours.

The popularity of this bread grew as migrants from Mallorca travelled to South America and brought the recipe with them. The bread had found its way to the Philippines being a colony of Spain. We can even see some of the bakeries offer Ensaymada Mallorca which  I guess is much closer to the original recipe. I have never tried the original ensaimada from Mallorca.

We made the recipe our own to suit the taste and available ingredients in the regions such as butter, cheese available and even salted egg.

As time moved forward we had access to various ingredients and methods to cooking and baking. Our ensaymadas evolved from the simple butter or margarine and sugar toppings.

Here are some of the popular variations.

Classic. This is the swirled and shaped like a disk variation we have been talking about earlier as our version of the ensaimada.  One thing to add is the bread itself. It is described as dense and not puffed as other variations.

Bulacan. This version has Chinese ham and you might see some salted egg as well and topped with cheddar cheese. The bread itself is dense as well.

Pampanga. The Kapampangan has their ensaymada fluffier. Sort of in the middle of being bread like and fluffy. It is also capped with butter and cheese.

Modern. Modern twist has been added to the ensaymada. Incorporating various ingredients such as ube, cream cheese, chocolate and even nutella.

 Making ensaymada is no walk in the park. It may look simple but there are techniques that needs to be mastered to get the best tasting ensaymada.

Chef Joey Prats

Chef Joey Prats has elevated the ensaymada. He has used top notch ingredients and methods to make the pastry even more delicious than it is. Learn how to make them soft and fluffy. Exciting and delicious flavors: Parmigiano Reggiano, Classic Cheddar, Chorizo de Cebu, and Ube (Purple Yam).

His recipe has one of the lightest and fluffiest ensaymada topped with buttercream icing. The cheese cuts through the sweetness of the icing. The different flavors not only add a different dimension of taste but also texture completing the eating experience.

He has been doing live classes of his ensaymada for years and now due to popular demand he is bringing his knowledge online! For one, the slots for his classes are limited. The demand for his class are high. People from the provinces and even around the globe are requesting him to bring this online.

Your requests has been answered as Chef Joey finally produced his Artisan Ensaymada online class, sharing as much knowledge and information. It is almost like you have him as your teacher in your own home!

You may learn more by visiting the class page here.

​​​It is not just a class which teaches skills on making the pastry but he will help you make it into a business. Imagine the return of investment for this popular pastry.

By the way signing up in our website is free! You just pay for the class that you want. Get to see other classes that The Bailiwick Academy has to offer.

Student Feedback

Do not take my word for it. Read some of the feedback of those students who took his class. Some of them has already started selling them! Why wait? Upgrade your skills, enroll now!

I’ve tried 2x to make the Ensaymada but failed. I told myself, If I would do it for the 3rd time it would be a good recipe until I enrolled to Chef Joey Prats Artisan Ensaymada class…. and yes it was a success and now I am receiving orders. Btw, the class is so detailed and tips are very helpful Thank you Chef Joey Prats and Ms Grace

Maribeth Mojica

Pretty long overdue review. A fantastic class indeed! The procedure is very easy to understand and easy to execute. . A perfect course for all level of baking expertise. I highly recommend his classes and looking forward to taking more in the future.

Sheryl

Made it twice already and very much satisfied with the result  soft and fluffy ensaymada. Thanks  sir Joey best ensaymada i made. Super love it!!!

Maria Dizon

I already bake the Artisan Ensaymada that I learned from Chef Joey Prats online Class. It is really soft, fluffy and yummy. I started selling it to my friends and my sister officemates. I highly recommend to take this class because the instructions are easy to follow plus tips on how to make it as business. 

Beth Sajines

I purchased Artisan Ensaymada by Chef Joey Prats 3 weeks ago and I am very happy with the results. I am selling it right now following Chef advice and all my customers are very satisfied. So fluffy and the buttercream is perfect. Not so sweet. By the way I am residing here in the US. Thank you Chef Joey I am highly satisfied.

Jeanette Manlangit Butts

I purchased the ensaymada class by chef joey prats. I am happy and contented with the result of my ensaymada bread. It was really soft and delicious bun..Super thank you for this online class.

sympathica_1202@yahoo.com

Where to buy the ingredients and supplies? 

All ingredients and equipment are straight forward  and you probably have it already in your kitchen. But just in case you’re missing something, you can order it from us through our Lazada shop.

The post Online Class: How to Make Artisan Ensaymada appeared first on Online Baking and Cooking Classes - The Bailiwick Academy.