Southport Magazine

For some people, it’s who you know that opens new doors of opportunity. For others, it’s their chocolate cake. Pastry chef Amanda Schall landed her first local client when she made her fiance’s new boss a chocolate cake. Schall had moved to Oak Island with fiance Lawrence Green when he landed a job as chef at Shagger Jack’s on Oak Island about a year ago. 

Schall said she found Oak Island to be such a welcoming community, and she wanted to show her appreciation. What better way than to share a chocolate cake? Once the Shagger Jack’s crew tasted it, they asked her to make all the desserts for the restaurant. 

Her pastries, like cinnamon rolls and filled croissants, can also be found at Ruby’s at the Oak Island Pier. Schall also caters special events and makes sweets to order, and said that usually people find her through Facebook. 

Schall graduated from pastry school in Baton Rouge, LA, in 2015. She said she came into the profession naturally, since her mother was a baker. 

“All my teachers were excited for me to be in their classes because my mom had a reputation,” Schall said. “That’s where I got the passion for it, but I wanted to do more with it.” 

Her personal style is more European, using ingredients like chocolate and almonds, but not super sweet, not just all about the sugar. While she was in culinary school, she worked at a restaurant that gave her access to some high-quality and unique ingredients, and she found ways to incorporate them into desserts. She made sriracha ice cream, and even a candied mushroom flan. Seeing people enjoy her creations and getting them to try new things is a great feeling, she said. 

“That’s the reason I do it, to see people’s reaction and to make people happy. I get this all the time — they say they never tried that or they didn’t like it, and they try mine and they have a whole new perspective. I’ve changed a lot of people’s minds about a lot of things.” 

Like many children, Schall’s sons, ages 3 and 7, are picky eaters, except when it comes to their Mom’s baked desserts. “If I bake something, even if they don’t know what it is, they will try it,” she said. “If I make French macarons, they are all over it.” 

At Shaggers, she always offers a chocolate cake topped with a chocolate ganache. “It’s decadent but simple,” Schall said. She also often makes a delectable dessert that pays homage to her culinary roots. “I like to do bread pudding. That’s a thing in Louisiana. That’s something I take pride in. A lot of people like that and I try to change the flavors. Some people like to make theirs more like pudding. Mine is more like a bread souffle.” 

But as far as a crowd favorite, Schall said she turns to chocolate. 

“What I like making for people to wow them is anything over the top chocolate, like death by chocolate. I mean, if you’re going to indulge yourself, why not go all the way.” 

Her culinary talents are also getting her some national recognition. Last year, she entered a contest at the NC Blueberry Festival in Burgaw, in Pender County, and her Blueberry-Cream Cheese Sweet Braid Twist took first place among 97 entries. A few months later, out of the blue, she got a call from Family Circle. The company was putting together a cookbook of county fair and festival contest winners across the country and wanted to include her recipe. They went through the editing process, and the book was published in December 2019. Unfortunately, the company has stopped publishing all together, but Schall said she feels honored that her recipe was included in the last book published. 

While Schall has found a home base for baking locally, her love for competition and for being a part of the community also found a home in Oak Island. Last year, Schall took top prize in Oak Island’s Gingerbread Beach House competition. She also provided the King Cake for the Town’s Mardis Gras celebration and supplied pastries for a recent fundraiser and outreach effort following Hurricane Isaias. She also hopes to add new clients, even as the area is dealing with the pandemic.  

“I feel like Oak Island is so community oriented. All the businesses are so great. I feel like they come together and help each other out,” she said.