Zoe Denenberg

Title: Food and Lifestyle Writer

Education: University of Virginia

Location: New York, NY

Expertise: Food, Travel, and Culture

Zoe is a professional baker and writer. She draws on her own culinary knowledge to translate complicated techniques into easily digestible terms for home cooks.

HIGHLIGHTS

Zoe has written 300+ stories for Southern Living print and digital, focusing on food, travel, and culture.
Zoe worked for 10 months as Head of Pastry and Special Orders at Hana Farms in Maui, Hawaii, baking a variety of desserts with a focus on Hawaiian-grown ingredients, such as Lilikoi Cheesecake, Coconut Cream Pie, and Maui Espresso Brownies. She also developed new recipes using ingredients grown on the farm, such as Kaeleku Lime Pie.
Zoe worked for 1 year as Baker at Big Spoon Creamery in Birmingham, Alabama, where she baked a variety of confections, tested recipes, and developed new ice cream flavors (such as Vegan Almond Butter Cup).
She has 6+ years’ experience in custom cookie decorating and piping for Splurge Bakery, Southern Living, and independent orders (IG: @cookiesimade).
Zoe is now the Associate Editor, Cooking & SEO, for Bon Appétit.

Zoe started her career in journalism on staff at Southern Living as the Digital and Editorial Fellow, working out of the Birmingham, Alabama headquarters. She wrote in-depth features for print and digital, conducting interviews with food personalities for Southern Living's 2020 Cooks of the Year and a series of digital-exclusive profiles celebrating Black History Month. Zoe traveled to Alexandria, Virginia, to report on the town's unique Christmas traditions for a December 2020 print travel feature. As she transitioned into a full-time baking role at Big Spoon Creamery and eventually Hana Farms, Zoe continued to work with Southern Living in a freelance capacity, writing primarily food-focused articles and introductions for all print recipes.

In her 2 years of experience as Baker at Big Spoon Creamery and Head of Pastry at Hana Farms, Zoe gained a strong foundation of experience in a wide variety of pastry disciplines, including but not limited to cake, cookies, ice cream, confectionary (caramel, marshmallow, brittle, and toffee), breakfast pastries, and bread dough. She also has 6+ years of experience in custom cookie decorating and piping for Splurge Bakery, Southern Living, and independent orders (Instagram: @cookiesimade).

Zoe is now the Associate Editor, Cooking & SEO, for Bon Appétit.

Zoe graduated from the University of Virginia in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and English. As a participant in the English Distinguished Majors Program, Zoe authored a thesis titled "'She died without a single word passing her lips:' A Contextual, Feminist Reading of Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North," which was awarded High Distinction. Zoe was an Echols Scholar (top 7% of admissions), a member of the Raven Society (top academic honors society), and a recipient of the Wagenheim Scholarship for outstanding performance in English classes. She also won an Honorable Mention for the English Department Best Short Story Prize.

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