Award Winning Pastry Chef Dominique Ansel Joins MasterClass to Teach French Pastry Fundamentals

MasterClass, the online education company that enables anyone access to the masters of the craft, announced today that James Beard Award-winning pastry chef and Cronut® creator Dominique Ansel will debut his first-ever online pastry class exclusively through its platform.

In his class, Ansel will teach essential techniques for classic French pastries and desserts, such as a beautiful chocolate mousse cake and the perfect croissant.

Ansel's class is now available at www.masterclass.com/da. Enrollment for the class is $90 for lifetime access or $180 per year for the All-Access Pass, which grants unlimited access to all new and existing classes.


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"The idea of taking on traditional French pastry can be intimidating for a lot of people," says David Rogier, co-founder and CEO of MasterClass. "As with all our classes, we wanted to give people a way to learn from someone that they wouldn't have had access to otherwise. Dominique is the best in the world at what he does and the perfect instructor to teach students French pastry — not just the foundation but also how to be creative and break the mold, which is what he is known for."

Dominique Ansel built his legacy by shaking up the pastry world with his innovative approach to French classics, garnering scores of culinary accolades including the prestigious James Beard Award for "Outstanding Pastry Chef" in 2014, "World's Best Pastry Chef" by World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2017, and the l'Ordre du Mérite Agricole, France's second highest honor.

Food & Wine has deemed him a "culinary Van Gogh," and he's been named one of Business Insider's "Most Innovative People Under 40" and Vanity Fair France's "50 Most Influential People in the World," among others.

He is most widely known as the inventor of the Cronut®, a global phenomenon that emerged from his SoHo New York bakery and was listed as one of TIME magazine's "25 Best Inventions of 2013." He currently owns five bakeries in New York, Tokyo, London and Los Angeles and opened his first-ever restaurant, 189 by Dominique Ansel, in Los Angeles last year.

"Food is a necessity, but pastry and dessert is always a choice. Pastry, to me, has a very emotional connection with people, and teaching the fundamentals of pastry is a combination of both science and art," says Ansel. "This class is not just a typical class, it will open your mind to think of food and pastry differently."

In his MasterClass, Ansel will share learnings from his classical training to teach students fundamental techniques – from the base to the filling and finishing – to master French pastry at home. Students will learn Ansel's personal methods and philosophies that inform his creative process, as well as signature recipes he uses to test new pastry chefs at his own bakeries.

Ansel will teach students how to create six elegant desserts — a farmer's market strawberry tart, ombré autumn apple tart, fresh-baked mini madeleines, the ultimate chocolate mousse cake, classic chocolate bonbons and the perfect, flaky croissant — and provide them with the building blocks to make their own playful twists on these classics.

MasterClass continues to expand classes across existing and new categories, bringing leading instructors to its engaged base of subscribers. MasterClass provides educational, inspiring, and engaging classes taught by the world's greatest minds. With more than 40 classes that dive into processes, techniques and philosophies, MasterClass helps students progress more rapidly towards their own mastery, explore a new passion, or learn a new skill.


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It offers a unique learning experience, including video lessons, interactive exercises, course materials, peer interaction, and more. All classes are available as part of an annual subscription for $180, or for individual purchase at $90 for lifetime access to the class, and can be accessed online at www.masterclass.com or on the MasterClass mobile app for iOS and Android.

View & embed the trailer for Dominique Ansel's MasterClass here: https://youtu.be/ziVuIPthEw4

ABOUT MASTERCLASS
Founded in 2015, MasterClass started with the idea that everyone should have "access to genius." The online education platform provides affordable, engaging, and inspirational online classes taught by world-renowned instructors, making it possible for anyone to learn from the best.

MasterClass' current roster of courses includes:

Culinary Arts: Gordon Ramsay (cooking), Alice Waters (home cooking), Thomas Keller (cooking techniques), Wolfgang Puck (cooking), Dominique Ansel (French pastry)

Film and Television: Werner Herzog (filmmaking), Martin Scorsese (filmmaking), Ron Howard (directing), Helen Mirren (acting), Samuel L. Jackson (acting), Judd Apatow (comedy), Spike Lee (filmmaking), Ken Burns (documentary filmmaking)


ICC Recreational Classes: Japanese-American Kitchen Review – Compliments to the Chef (Shefu ni Sanji)


Music and Entertainment: Armin van Buuren (dance music), Christina Aguilera (singing), Usher (performance), Reba McEntire (country music), Herbie Hancock (jazz), Deadmau5 (music production), Hans Zimmer (film scoring), Steve Martin (comedy), Tom Morello (electric guitar)

Writing: James Patterson (writing), Aaron Sorkin (screenwriting), Shonda Rhimes (writing for television), David Mamet (dramatic writing), Judy Blume (writing), Malcolm Gladwell (writing), RL Stine (writing for young audiences), Margaret Atwood (creative writing), Dan Brown (writing)

Design, Photography, and Fashion: Annie Leibovitz (photography), Frank Gehry (architecture), Diane von Furstenberg (how to build a fashion brand), Marc Jacobs (fashion design)

Sports and Games: Serena Williams (tennis), Stephen Curry (shooting, ball-handling, and scoring), Garry Kasparov (chess), Daniel Negreanu (poker)

Politics, Economics and Society: Jane Goodall (conservation), Bob Woodward (investigative journalism), Karl Rove and David Axelrod (politics), Paul Krugman (economics and society)

Science: Chris Hadfield (space exploration)


For more information, please visit www.masterclass.com.

Follow MasterClass:
Twitter @masterclass
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Facebook @masterclassofficial

Follow Dominique Ansel:
Instagram @dominiqueansel
Facebook @Dominique.Ansel.Bakery

Twitter @DominiqueAnsel

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