Pastry Chef Michelle Palazzo shares Holiday baking tips

Rockford, Ill. (WTVO)—

Baking for the holidays is not always as easy as it looks but pastry chef Michelle Palazzo is helping us with some baking tips and tricks that are sure to amazing this holiday season. Michelle says that the first step to that perfect flaky pie crust is the butter. She uses the Plugra European Style Butter because she believes that ‘Better Butter Matters’. She also recommends keeping ingredients as cold as possible, specifically butter. For the crust she suggests letting the crust relaxing the fridge for a while to reduce any shrinking that might happen while baking. Michelle started baking when she was a very young girl growing up in a family of avid bakers. She always makes a chocolate custard pie during the holidays, but she has found a way to elevate her recipe. She added in fresh pecans, a layer of pecan caramel on the bottom, and of course included the delicious chocolate custard. She is also showing off her pumpkin pie which she elevates with a little bit of maple syrup and a touch of cognac. She says that the cognac really brings out the fall and pumpkin flavors. For less stress, Michelle says that we can start preparing our pie crust up to two weeks in advance. For more information on how to get the perfect pie crust, Michelle encourages everyone to head to plugra.com.