What I Do

With decades of R&D and hands-on experience across retail, corporate, and family bakeries, I’ve mastered the art of crafting exceptional bread and pastries. As both a seasoned bread scientist and artisan baker, I’m passionate about sharing my perfected recipes and industry techniques that will elevate your team or community’s baking skills to new heights. Let’s plan a class or event and transform a passion for baking into an unforgettable group experience.

With experience in offering a variety of in-person and online masterclasses, I can work with you to customize a curated workshop experience at your pastry school, academy, or trade event.

Masterclasses

I can provide professional onsite training to improve your team’s formulation and production processes, all while boosting culinary creativity and building an innovative recipe repertoire.

Demos

Let’s plan an event for your next community gathering where participants can master a variety of delicious recipes. Based on event logistics, ingredients, and essential baking tools can be supplied.

Events

Get in Touch

Helping Bakers Master the “Mother Dough”

In April 2024, I partnered with The Bread Baker's Guild of America to offer a virtual 2-hour Bizcocho Masterclass to share the science and artistry behind baking conchas, nubes, and chilindrinas. The lesson provided key insights into dough development, mixing procedures, and topping variations. Each baker left with an in-depth understanding of the “mother dough” and advanced techniques to take back to their bakeries and home kitchens.

About Alex

Hi, I am Alissandro “Alex” Peña, a California native, a former Marine, a passionate Master Baker, a trained culinary chef, and a professional bread scientist.

My lifelong passion for pan dulce starts at my family’s bakery, continuing into my professional culinary training, and global R&D experience for various ingredient suppliers and manufacturers. Now, I serve as the Director for Product Development at Bellarise and the founder of Baking Evolution, a baking school where I continue my work in highlighting the history and evolution of Mexican bread.

The Power of Flour

From a young age, pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread) has always fascinated me. From the kitchen of my family’s bakery, La Morenita, come a number of time-tested recipes and stories that I am passionate about sharing with a growing community of over 20,000 bakers around the world, both seasoned professionals and enthusiastic beginners. Together, we celebrate the joy of baking and the richness of Mexican culinary traditions.