Zac Young

Pastry Pundit

Recognized as one of the country's top pastry chefs, Chef Zac Young is known for his playful takes on American desserts, including the all-in-one Thanksgiving sensation, The PieCaken. Zac’s groundbreaking, direct-to-consumer bakery - PieCaken Bakeshop - helped revolutionize nationwide shipping of specialty desserts in partnership with the online marketplace Goldbelly.

After graduating with honors from The Institute of Culinary Education, Zac cut his teeth at Bouchon Bakery, and traveled to France to learn from some of the world’s masters of chocolate. Zac’s talents were then nurtured by Chef Alex Guarnaschelli in his four year tenure as Pastry Chef at Butter Restaurant. Afterwards, he started a donut revolution at Flex Mussels Restaurants, compelling The New York Times restaurant critic, Frank Bruni, to write, “how lucky of us to find room for dessert,” and landing his donuts in The Times’ list of Top Ten Donuts in New York City. Zac then went on to serve as Corporate Pastry Chef for equally whimsical Chef David Burke - running the pastry departments of his many restaurants, hotels, and bars - and working his way to partnership in the parent company, Craveable Hospitality Group. His most recent venture, Zac Young’s Sprinkletown, is a multifaceted sweets company focused on retail products with partners like Costco, wholesale foodservice distribution, and proprietary retail concepts, including his forthcoming opening of Sprinkletown Donuts & Ice Cream at Foxwoods Resort Casino in 2024.

Zac is best known for his wit and pastry wisdom on Food Network’s "Halloween Baking Championship" as well “Chopped," "Beat Bobby Flay," "Worst Cooks in America," “Supermarket Stakeout,” The Cooking Channel's long-running show, "Unique Sweets.", Netflix’s “Nailed It” and his Final Four finish on the inaugural season of Bravo's "Top Chef: Just Desserts." When Zac grows up, he wants to be a competitive dim sum eater.