Photography by Bo Carlock / Spacecrafting
Jasmine Weiser Kaysen and Carmen Steinke
Jasmine Weiser Kaysen assumed that when she enrolled in culinary school, she’d take the savory route. Then she learned there existed a sweet pastry track. Her decision? Go with sweet, the one she knew nothing about.
It’s a mindset that has propelled her to the top of her game at Edwards Dessert Kitchen in Minneapolis, where she has been serving as the executive chef and general manager of the purely pastry eatery. “The goal is to try to get people to expand their palates and not be afraid to try different flavors,” she says. “I like being able to push people’s boundaries. I think it’s what makes us different than other pastry shops.”
She knows from experience, having rolled dough in such prestigious kitchens as Patisserie 46 and Marin. When she took the helm at the Schwan’s Company–owned Edwards Dessert Kitchen, she gained control over the menu, which she turns out alongside head chef Carmen Steinke. “We’re a great team,” Weiser Kaysen says. “She means the world to me.”
“Leaping into the unknown is part of what makes us successful,” she adds. That means infusing the menu with flavors like blackberry lime-leaf pavlova or strawberry, sorrel and jasmine panna cotta. It also means making mind-blowing gluten-free and plant-based desserts. The star among them? The classic chocolate-chip cookies. “We’d have a revolt on our hands if we pulled them from the menu,” she says, laughing.
Schwan’s ownership allows Weiser Kaysen to get creative, leading to ideas like late-night cocktails and coffee for a post-dinner nightcap. “Sometimes people assume we don’t make things from scratch when they find out we’re owned by Schwan’s,” she says. “But, in reality, we make everything from scratch using the best imported French purees and chocolate.” Indeed, Edwards acts as an innovation hub for the food company, baking up the sweetest ideas to bring to consumers near and far.
