- All right, we are back,
and I'm hanging out
with Kristen Bell and Anna Diop,
give it up for them, y'all.
(audience cheering)
So about 15 years ago,
a new bakery popped up here in LA,
serving delicious high-end cupcakes
called "Sprinkles."
People-
Exactly, they know.
People went nuts
and waited in line for hours
to get them.
Y'all have had a Sprinkles cupcake?
- [Kristen] Oh, yeah.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Those cupcakes have become
a real cultural phenomenon,
they're the brainchild of our next guest,
who's here to show us her secrets
to success in baking a tasty, sweet treat.
I'm very excited, I love my job.
You know her from "Sugar Rush" on Netflix
and "Cupcake Wars" on the Food Network.
Let's everybody welcome Candace Nelson.
(audience applauding)
So this is Anna,
this is Kristin.
- Hi, guys.
- Hi.
- And we all know everybody loves,
people know your cupcakes,
but your origin story,
people don't really know it,
so tell them how you got started.
- I actually started my career
in investment banking and technology.
- [Kelly] Which is so weird.
- No good.
(Kelly Laughs)
And after-
- It would just be weird
to become a baker after that.
- From banking to baking, right?
- [Kelly] Yeah. Take the in out.
- But I wanted to do something
that brought me more joy,
and that had always been baking for me.
I grew up overseas my whole childhood,
and baking was my connection to home.
When I was homesick,
I would get in the kitchen and bake with my mom,
and bake delicious American treats.
- Yeah.
- And so I decided
instead of going to business school,
to go to pastry school.
I started baking out of my home kitchen,
just churning out these cupcakes.
Opened Sprinkles in 2005,
it was this tiny little bakery in Beverly Hills,
but today we've sold over 200 million cupcakes.
(audience applauds)
We have 40 locations,
including our cupcake ATMs.
- I have heard of them.
- And I've written a book.
- Totally have never been to them.
- About turning your passion into profit,
so other people can do that.
- I think it's really cool,
and the messaging is so cool,
just because you're doing one thing
doesn't mean you have to do that forever.
Like your passions could change.
I think that's really powerful at any age.
So the book is called
"Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe
to Turn your Passion into Profit."
So what do you want people to take from it?
What's the gist?
- Well, I think, you know,
in starting a business,
passion is so important.
I loved what I was doing,
I was so enthusiastic about it,
and it just drew people to me.
It drew my-
When I was hiring people,
they wanted to work for me.
Customers wanted to buy from me.
Passion just is contagious,
it unlocks opportunity.
It's so important.
And it's that extra battery pack
that keeps you going
when times are tough, right?
Because it can be challenging
to start a business.
So, passion is key.
- Also, if you like passion,
since you seem to like it,
apparently Magic Mike
is where you should go.
(audience cheering)
- Talk about unlocking a new life.
- [Kelly] You know, I'm just saying,
she's very passionate about that, too.
You should try that.
- Different kind of passion
than what I'm writing about,
but very important as well.
- You know what?
But sometimes the same kind of passion
when you're tasting it.
I don't know,
sometimes it tastes good.
I'm just saying.
(audience laughs)
Um, so, so what are-
That came out different
than how I intended.
I just wanna lead with that.
And if you thought something dirty,
that's on you.
(audience laughs)
'Cause that is not how Mama meant it.
Um, so what are you showing us today?
- Okay, so speaking of passion,
today we're making our
Spiced Passion Pear Galette.
- [Kelly] Yes.
- [Candace] And I'm gonna put you guys to work.
We've got our dough already here pre-made,
and we're gonna start rolling it
into a six to eight inch circle.
- [Kelly] Sure.
- This is a galette,
which is a freeform pie,
which means the more rustic,
the better.
Right?
So we're just gonna start from the middle,
and just roll it out.
Roll it out to the edge
until we get that nice
six to eight inch round.
Of course, it doesn't have to be perfect.
Perfection is not the goal here.
- Round as in it should be a circle?
- Yeah, just generally speaking,
a circle.
- Should we flip it? I flipped it.
- Okay.
Well, you can flip it.
You absolutely can flip it.
Just make sure-
- [Kelly] Be careful 'cause it's sticking.
- [Candace] Make sure it's not sticking,
and that's what you use your flour for.
- [Kristen] Flour it. Flour it.
- [Candace] And as you're rolling
you can kind of be moving it
to make sure it's not sticking.
- Okay.
- And then once you
generally have a circle,
or oval,
of some sort,
we're gonna start
adding our beautiful pear filling,
and these are Bartlett pears
that have been mixed
with all those yummy fall spices.
Like cinnamon-
- [Kelly] Nutmeg.
- [Candace] You know it.
- [Kelly] I love those.
- [Candace] But be sure
that you leave a little border
around the edge of the filling,
'cause that's what we're gonna fold over,
to hold all that yummy filling in there.
(guests groan)
Is there anything better than the smell
of something like pie
with all the spices baking
during the holiday season?
- Passion.
- What kind?
- Uh, so then now we're just gonna
fold over these edges,
and you're kind of, you know-
- [Kelly] Kind of pinching it?
- [Candace] Pinching this together.
- [Kelly] Okay.
- [Candace] Because when it goes in the oven,
which we're gonna bake it 400 degrees
for like twenty minutes.
- [Kelly] How y'all doing down there?
- [Candace] Yeah. How's it going?
- You know.
We're having snack breaks.
- Wanted to make sure it wasn't poison.
- [Kelly] They're snacking.
- [Anna] We're doing great.
- Okay, so now,
don't we want a nice, golden crust?
- Yes.
- So the way to do that,
here's the secret.
We're gonna brush
with a little heavy cream
along the crust.
- [Kelly] Okay. So then we sprinkle?
- [Candace] Then for the extra crunch,
we're gonna use this turbinado sugar
and sprinkle.
'Cause it's all about getting that
nice texture on there.
- [Kelly] I'm making it extra-
- [Candace] Oh yeah.
- [Kelly] Yeah. I love crunchy.
- And because more is more,
particularly this time of year,
we're gonna add some whipped cream
and some caramel sauce.
- Okay, 'cause TV magic,
we have one ready.
- Yes!
- So you put this on
like a little dollop?
- [Candace] There is no right way to do this.
This is just all about
what looks good to you.
- [Kelly] And then you just drizzle?
- [Candace] And then we're going to drizzle.
- [Kristen] Come on, it's whipped cream.
- [Candace] With caramel.
- [Kelly] Drizzle.
- [Candace] And you are welcome to
use a fork and knife.
- [Kelly] I am.
- [Candace] You are welcome to pick this up
with your hands.
- [Kelly] Oh, you just went Texas on me.
Okay.
(audience laughs)
I'm like that's amazing.
- But the important thing is to enjoy.
- [Kelly] I'm tasting it.
I wanna make sure I get apple in that.
- [Candace] Dessert should be
a daily pleasure, people.
- [Audience Member] I know that's right.
(audience cheers)
- [Candace] Right?
- [Anna] I can't wait to taste this.
- [Kristen] This looks so good.
- Don't hold back.
- Don't hold back on that caramel.
Oh my gosh.
Kevin, please have this sent to my room.
(audience laughs)
This is so good.
Oh, my God.
- It's so good.
- It's so delicious.
Do y'all like yours?
- We're about to get there.
- We're about to dig in.
- We're getting there.
(audience laughs)
- [Kelly] You're those people at Christmas.
It's like unwrapping presents, like,
"What? Come on."
- Mine came out great.
(everyone laughs)
I did a great job.
(audience laughs)
- It's so good.
- It's not too sweet.
- I know.
- It's just enough.
It's so nice.
- [Kelly] Yeah. The perfect amount.
Yeah.
- [Candace] The crust is really flaky.
Well done!
- Thank you so much.
- Thank you so much for having me.
(audience cheers)
- You can get the recipe
for Candace's Pear Galette
on our show's Facebook story,
and pick up Candace's new book,
"Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe
to Turn your Passion into Profit,"
wherever you buy your books.
In fact, Candace is giving
everyone in our studio audience a copy.
(audience cheers)