In less than a month, it'll be time for the 2024 rendition of CultureMap Fort Worth's Tastemaker Awards, celebrating all that is great in Fort Worth food and drink, with a tasting event and awards ceremony on May 2 at The 4 Eleven (411 S. Main St.), hosted by acclaimed Fort Worth chef Jon Bonnell.

Leading up to the big event is our editorial series, highlighting nominees in categories such as Best Neighborhood Restaurant, Best Bar, Best Patio, and Rising Star Chefs.

Winners will be announced at the event, and tickets are on sale, including Early Bird tickets at discounted rates of $60 for general admission and $99 for VIP (includes early access to the event, valet, and a dedicated bar), now available until April 5.

Today, we honor the city's best pastry chefs, the individuals who sate our sweet tooth, brighten any mood with meringues and milk chocolate, and provide comfort with cookies, cakes, and croissants.

Here our the nominees for Pastry Chef of the Year for 2024:

Alexis Misner, Sour Boule Bakery
Alexis Misner opened her bakery and café in the former Busy B’s Bakery space at 3701 Southwest Blvd. last fall, drawing regular customers for cinnamon rolls, sandwiches, sugar cookies, and sourdough breads. The self-taught baker learned by trial and error with the help of online videos, reading, and watching her grandmother. Before opening her own bakery, the Utah native sold sourdough and cookies under the name Misner Family Farms at local farmers markets, and still does pop-ups occasionally outside the store.

Darlene Marks, Three Danes Baking Company
It’s been 10 years since Darlene Marks founded her cottage baking business with her Danish-born mother, Erna, to sell authentic Danish pastries and cookies. After building a massive following for hindbaersnitte (Danish “pop-tarts”), butter cakes, puff pastry, galettes, and kringle (filled Danish butter pastry), Three Danes Baking Company has come full circle: Marks announced last fall the storefront would slow down, operating only for catering orders and for guests of her Three Danes Inn bed and breakfast. Booking a room at the historic home is the best bet at obtaining some goodies today.

Katherine Sasser, Hurley House
Sasser raised the bar for hospitality when she opened Hurley House in 2016, providing not only pretty pastries, lunch, and meals to-go, but a place where guests are always welcomed by a beautifully decorated table and a place to call home. Hospitality is such an important part of Sasser’s business philosophy, she writes a detailed blog on the topic – when she’s not baking cakes, mixing frosting colors, or creating centerpieces. Adding more to her plate, she just launched same-day cakes with a three-hour turnaround when ordered by 1:30 pm.

Laura Canedo, Local Foods Kitchen
Those coveted cookies, cakes, tartlets and toffee bars at Local Food Kitchen are the work of Laura Canedo, who labors overnight to create the sweet concoctions to fill the glass cases and jars by morning. (The small kitchen is busy with salads, entrees, soups, and deli items all day, and the tenured pastry chef needs room to spread out.) Canedo also has experience at Ellerbe Fine Foods and attended prestigious Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, recognized for its culinary program.

Kris Trawick, Baked Bread & Pastry
Trawick left a career in insurance in 2017 to go to culinary school and learn the basics of baking before training around the country in sourdough, bagels, and croissants. In 2019 she opened Baked Bread & Pastry Co. as a food truck before transitioning to a brick-and-mortar location in Granbury in 2020. She’s since built such a following for fresh blueberry muffins, chocolate croissants, sourdough pancakes, and avocado toast that a second location is on the way for Glen Rose soon.

Lindsey Lawing, Sweet Lucy's Pies
Lawing first dabbled in pies while working at Reata to make extra money and has since established herself as Fort Worth’s “Pie Queen” after more than 10 years of perfecting crusts and whipping meringues. She regularly appeared at farmers markets before opening her storefront last year at 3520 Blue Bonnet Circle, providing a hub for her creative pies like pistachio cream, triple coconut, and grapefruit meringue. Named for her daughter Lucy, the pie shop is touted as serving some of the best in Texas.

Maurice Ahern, Grounds & Gold Co.
Family was the inspiration for baker Maurice Ahern, who launched Gold Ribbon Confections in Arlington in 2017 in honor of his son Micah, who died of cancer at age 7. Ahern’s father and his grandmother were both avid hobby bakers, inspiring him to follow their lead. He later opened Grounds & Gold Co., a retail bakery and coffee shop, in Dalworthington Gardens in 2020, where he sells his famous cinnamon rolls, scones, and breakfast pastries.

Rocio Urbina, The Fort Worth Club
Not all private clubs have their own executive pastry chef, but The Fort Worth Club is an outlier thanks to Rocio Urbina. The former Food Network Challenge contestant has led the pastry department for nearly a decade at the downtown club, serving thousands for banquet events and member dining every year. While she can whip up a multi-tiered wedding cake with ease, she’s also known for her artistically designed bon bons. Urbina sells the latter via her side hustle, RU Chocolate, which features flavors like horchata, strawberry cheesecake, and mango chamoy.

Tareka Lofton, Loft22 Cakes
Lofton became famous during the height of the pandemic in 2020 for baking "quarantine" cakes that resembled rolls of toilet paper, part of a droll national trend in response to shortages of TP. She first began baking cakes from her apartment in 2013 before opening her Near Southside store-front bakery in 2017. A Le Cordon Bleu alum, Lofton is known for her visual artistry and creativity in her cakes, from her green velvet St. Patrick’s Day cake to her nostalgic cereal milk cake. Lofton also makes cookies, cupcakes, cobblers, and teaches baking classes, too.