Since relocating from California two years ago, Pastry Chef Ali Boril has continued the Minneapolis Club’s tradition of baking excellence, introducing inventive and fun new desserts while maintaining the high quality of popular favorites loved by members.
Boril is highly trained, with a background that includes graduating from the culinary program at Orange Coast College and a degree in Hospitality Administration and Management from California State Polytechnic University-Pomona. She previously served as pastry chef at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach, California. After moving to Minnesota, Boril accepted a position as a line cook at the Minneapolis Club under Chef Håkan Lundberg. When the position of pastry chef opened, she saw an opportunity to return to baking.
“I studied on the culinary side, but I eventually realized I loved pastry more,” says Boril. “Chef Håkan gives me so much freedom. I get to write my own menus and create my own specials. He’s always up for me trying any idea I have.”
Boril loves the wide variety of baking that she’s challenged with at the Minneapolis Club. “Chef Håkan is Swedish and I don’t have experience with Swedish desserts, so I look it up, fine-tune it and have him taste it. I just have to go for it and see how the flavors match. We create the same quality for each party – no matter if it’s five people or 500 people.”
Another attraction of baking at the Minneapolis Club is the rotating oven. This vintage mechanism has six levels that rotate up and down a shaft that measures a story and a half. Each level holds six sheet pans, allowing Boril to bake 36 full sheet pans at once – a huge advantage for a pastry chef who often caters weddings and events with hundreds of guests.
Boril is proud of a couple of new desserts she’s added to the Club’s menu. One is a delicious flourless chocolate almond torte with whipped cream and raspberry sauce. The other is an upscale take on the classic American donut. “We decided to do cinnamon sugar donuts. We have a lot of people who come sit at the bar, and it’s a fun dessert for when you’re hanging out, having a drink and being social. They come with caramel, chocolate and berry coulis for dipping.”
While she’s always experimenting with new desserts to provide a fresh taste, she’s also mindful of the need to maintain the high quality the Club members’ favorites. “The members are obsessed with banana cream pie! So, we do that often.”