Lindsay Morrison is a pastry chef who quit her day job in hotel sales five years ago to pursue her “big, sweet baking dreams.” She studied Pastry Arts at the International Culinary Center in New York City. She’s also part of the Ovia community!
Lindsay worked for a high end luxury dessert boutique until having her son, Graham, two years ago, when she decided to be a “bake at home mom.” She got inspired by the Parisian Bakery baby size theme in Ovia while pregnant with her second child and decided to bake along week by week. So, of course, we had to know more about this sweet, sweet project.
What inspired you to start this project?
When I was pregnant with Graham, I loved seeing what size fruit/vegetable he was every week. Even from the first week when he was just a poppyseed, I found myself always craving the food it mentioned and baking with it that week.
So from lemon poppyseed madelines to watermelon lollipops, I baked all 39 weeks. I found out about the Parisian bakery size comparison later on, and remember thinking: man, that would’ve been fun! So when I found out I was pregnant again, I couldn’t wait to do it all over again with an even sweeter twist.
How did this project (if at all) impact your experience of pregnancy?
I loved baking along every week — it was always a time for me to connect and reflect on my pregnancy. Every dessert made me feel closer to and more excited to meet whoever was in there. I also loved busting out my pastry school cookbooks, and having an excuse to make some really traditional pastries that I wouldn’t ordinarily bake, like the charlotte royale and brioche a tete.
Did anything unexpected happen throughout the project?
You know, I’m shocked to say nothing too unexpected happened! The timing was always interesting — like getting a buche de noel the week after Christmas, or beignets during Passover. I also try really hard to not be wasteful and be sure there were people around to eat along with me (which was pretty hard to do in a pandemic! and what am I to do with 3 dozen cream puffs, or 2 clafoutis!?) so I’d drive and deliver to my family and friends. It was always an adventure driving around with 6 crème brûlées and texting my friends at 2pm on a Tuesday asking if they want one!
What was your favorite week?
Probably the croquembouche week! I was so excited to have an excuse to make something so involved and such a showstopper. My son saw it in the morning and kept pointing to it and saying: ‘Mommy made that!’
If someone else wants to try this, any tips?
Don’t stress! Just enjoy the project, and the sweets. Also, don’t be afraid to make a few ‘edits’ based on your cravings, and the calendar. For example, I had a baguette the week of St. Patrick’s day and had already had a lot of bread in the house, so I made rainbow bread pudding. A win win!
My entire pregnancy journal is my Parisian bakery goods instead of bump pictures, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Want to check out the baby size themes in Ovia? Tap here.
