Featured Certified Chefs

2025 RBA Certified Chefs

  • Cody Middleton, Certified Master Baker

  • Austin Scoles, Certified Master Baker

2024 RBA Certified Chefs

  • Derek Corsino, Certified Master Baker

  • Rachel Wyman, Certified Master Baker

  • Erica Tomei, Certified Master Baker

  • Jessica Henson, Certified Master Baker 

  • Emily Depetrillo, Certified Baker 

CMB Spotlight: Jessica Henson, CMB  

Jessica Henson, CMB

Becoming a Certified Master Baker requires dedication, skill, and meticulous organization. Jessica Henson showcased all of these qualities during RBA’s 2024 Certified Master Baker exam in Hyde Park, NY. In this interview, Chef Henson reflects on her journey to certification—the challenges she faced, the excitement of the process, and the impact of achieving this prestigious credential.

What motivated you to earn your CMB? 

I've always viewed certification as a way to push yourself to keep growing and learning, as well as a way to set your own bar for what you're capable of. Certifications have been a part of my career for a while, especially while I was saving for college. The educational and work requirements kept me really goal-driven about what I wanted out of my career and skills, with the added benefit of recognition supported by the industry. As I continue on at these higher levels of certification, they serve as a reminder to live up to that standard every day.

Are there other CMBs who influenced or inspired you on your certification journey? 

This could easily be a very long list, but what got me started on the path to certification was during my freshman year at the Culinary Institute of America when five chefs passed their CMB: Chefs Berlioz, Egan, McCarrick, Meli, and Teixeira. I was able to observe their exam, and since I was also training for SkillsUSA and Chef Berlioz was my mentor, there were many Saturdays when we practiced alongside each other. It has been fun seeing all of those chefs throughout my journey: Chef Teixeira was one of the judges for my SkillsUSA competition and then again at my practical exam, along with Egan and McCarrick, who were both at my Certified Baker practical and proctored my re-take. Chef Meli was particularly inspiring because she was the youngest CMB at the time, and the realization that I could achieve the same goal before I turned 30 was very motivating. I could keep going, as the genuine support from everyone has been unwavering over the years.

How would you best describe the CMB practical exam?  

I approached the practical exam as an intense competition with myself and my own ability to adapt while staying focused. The goal is always to make the best product we've ever made, especially at this level, so making small adjustments for all of the unknowns is key to maintaining the quality we know we're capable of while under the unique stress of an exam. What temperature does the bakeshop stay overnight? Will it rain those days? How far from the bench are the electrical outlets? What kind of butter will we have? Can I bring my own bread flour? The simplest way to feel how those variations impact our product is to practice like it's a competition and to aim to do better than we did last practice, so that when it counts, we're succeeding at a level we weren’t when we started the process. Pass, partial, or fail, the CMB process makes us better bakers.

Now that you have achieved your CMB, what is next for you professionally?

I'm looking forward to focusing on more specific aspects of baking and pastry. I've had the good fortune of being in bakeshops that offer a wide variety of products under one roof, so now that I've seen a little bit of everything, I'm looking to find what specialties I can further refine. There's so much skill and technique out there, and I'm excited about learning as much as possible.

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