Claire Saffitz loves desserts. That’s immediately evident from the title of the St. Louis native’s first book: “Dessert Person.” Saffitz, 39, is now a New York-based recipe developer, food host and dessert chef. She was recently named a 2026 inductee into the Clayton High School Hall of Fame and will be inducted on April 24. Saffitz attended Central Reform Congregation while growing up in Clayton. She graduated from Harvard University in 2009 and studied classic French cuisine and pastry at École Grégoire Ferrandi in Paris. Saffitz has appeared on “The Tonight Show” where she taught Jimmy Fallon how to decorate a cake. Her YouTube videos recreating familiar desserts—like the Drumstick ice cream cone—have generated 1.5 million followers. Saffitz recently spoke with the Jewish Light.

You spend a great deal of your life in the kitchen. What do you like best about standing at a mixer and whipping up a dessert concoction?

I was always interested in food. I grew up in the heyday of the Food Network where the celebrity chef was created, and food was really becoming popular. I always liked baking from a procedural perspective, and I liked the scientific aspect of it, that you had to be precise and that really appealed to my personality. Although I’ve always loved desserts and I have a sweet tooth, it was more about the making than the eating for me. I really loved the process.

How does it feel to be named to the Clayton High School Hall of Fame?

It’s a huge honor and I’m so grateful to Clayton High School for giving me such a strong foundation in terms of academics, but also how to be a good citizen and to be part of a community. Clayton always had such a strong writing program, and I really credit that for giving me skills to do what I do now, to be a good communicator.

What do you love most about showing others how to cook?

The greatest reward I get from my work is when people tell me that they made one of my recipes for an occasion and their family really loved it. If one of my recipes becomes part of someone else’s repertoire, something that they can rely on and that they enjoy, that’s the highest praise to me.

It’s easy to get hooked on watching your online videos, “Gourmet Makes” from the Bon Appetit test kitchen and “Claire Recreates” where you attempt to remake a dessert snack like a Kit-Kat bar in a short period of time. What elements make a good episode?

It’s really the subject matter. I have to do it in one day and I’m not pursuing perfection. I love making a homemade version because I know it’s going to be better. We pick a subject that has an analog in real life, that is based on an actual dessert that has components that exist in the world of pastry. That makes the best version.

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Was your love of cooking passed down from your parents or grandparents?

My maternal grandmother had a couple of specialties. She made blintzes really well. My mom is a great baker and cook. My dad, too. My mom’s Aunt Tilly had a recipe for apple cake that my mom submitted to the Post-Dispatch in 2003. It was recognized as a recipe of the year. There’s a little bit of family lore around the recipe because it calls for orange juice to add flavor.

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