Tina Zaccardi: The Woman Behind The Italian Cookie

Do you follow Tina Ziccardi Bakes, aka @theItalianCookie? Her media pages are loaded with baked deliciousness that is not only drool worthy, but is downright eye-candy perfection! Following her grand win on “The Great American Baking Show” Season 4 (Hulu), Augustina Zaccardi (Tina) became a bit of a local celebrity right here in Westchester. Her huge fan base from her hometown of Eastchester rooted her on with each baking challenge, becoming more difficult as each week passed. We all watch in amazement as contestants fly through the challenges on each food competition, but meeting with Zaccardi and listening to her describe what it is really like to be on a cooking show was enlightening. She described the experience, which filmed in England, to be competitive yet jovial and the contenders to have more comradery than might be expected in a contest pitting bakers against each other in difficult timed elimination assignments. Although they were in a heated competition, they became somewhat of a family and are still in close contact with each other today.

Although Zaccardi attributes her passion for baking to both her mother and her maternal grandmother who nurtured her desire for mastering their Italian family recipes, she has reached beyond home cook. Throughout the past few years, Tina has become a seasoned veteran and a natural in front of the camera, having been featured on both The Chew and The Rachael Ray Show prior to her big win. She competed in a “Best Home Burger” showdown and won the grand prize (probably due to her frizzled onions), and she was off to Miami’s famed grand food show as Rachael Ray’s personal guest. On “The Chew’s” home baker competition, Tina shares with Batali her surprise ingredient for achieving a crisp crust to create her peach blueberry crumble is ground pecans. This had Carla Hall and Michael Symon oohing and aahing while comparing the taste to beloved pecan sandies. She just returned to Westchester from taping four, soon to be aired, cooking segments for a local network in Tampa and can be seen on local access programming here in Connecticut. You can find recipes and watch the television clips while exploring her website at www.tinazaccardibakes.com   

By following her posts, just for the beautiful presentation of each baked good, there are times you will want to lick the screen and often share out her gorgeous creations.  Although Tina’s end game is always deliciously flawless and magazine photo worthy in every last detail, she has made her love of baking easy for the home baker. You will discover that Zaccardi always shares a secret tip to help you “up your baking game”, making the end results superior with just a little help from a pro.     

Here are the ice cream Chewy Chocolate Cookies she made on camera recently with Tampa’s morning news cohost for a “cool” segment. During our interview, the pro described how she prepped for the taping, transporting the ingredients and utensils with her from NY. While in her hotel room the night before presenting, Zaccardi carefully measured each ingredient into separate bags to incorporate and describe on air the “how to” process. During this “at home” year, my hubby has requested these cookies so many times that we now know the recipe by heart and can make them quickly for instant gratification. These cookies are great straight up, but are perfect to sandwich your favorite ice cream for a cool down treat after a day in the sun. On her website, these cookies are all dressed up for the Fourth of July with colorful sprinkles in Red, White and Blue, but any color sprinkles can be swapped out (or none at all). Her secret to these everyday cookies is to utilize bread flour in the dough - the higher protein (gluten) creates crisp yet chewy cookies, the perfect consistency to pair with your favorite flavor ice cream for a summertime sandwich. Buttery but not greasy, crisp but with great chew, for that perfect addictive mouthfeel. Tina developed this recipe over time making them irresistible but simple enough for every day baking. Her pro tip is to bang the cookie sheet on the counter straight from the oven to enhance the crinkles as they settle giving them an extraordinary texture.

Currently Zaccardi can be found in her new kitchen hosting demonstrations from cakes to pies and beyond. Her food education takes place in person at schools, libraries and private fundraisers (prior to and post COVID rules), and as of late, like many, has adapted to teaching via ZOOM from her home kitchen. Watching her “in action” you will always learn something. Tina inspires perfection but understands all levels of capabilities and does instruction for all ages and skill sets. During her demonstrations she often recommends small tips to increase your success rate, such as using a scale to weigh ingredients for more accurate baking and therefore better outcomes. Although her labors are pure perfection, she is a transparent and most approachable instructor, always available to help the home baker become the best that they can be. Sign up for her next lesson, a free ZOOM class on fruit tarts from the Harrison Library.

When not in her kitchen or garden Zaccardi is cheering on her favorite team. Not a secret to her followers, Tina is a major Yankee fanatic. At times her creations highlight her love of the game and favorite NY team. Sing with me: "Take me out to the ball game" with this creative cake utilizing her homemade “Cracker Jacks” and praline cream. Batter up! Much like the philosophy in the baseball movie “Field of Dreams”, if you dream it she can make it or better yet, if she bakes it, we will consume! 

You may be thinking right about now: “How can I get my hands on her delectable and stunning creations?” Tina will do special requests on occasion. She calls them “out the door” to her family’s chagrin as they do not get a taste of her latest endeavors. From a close source, her carrot cake is to die for! She hand delivered one to my brother’s office and in trying to get home, the smell kept calling him from the passenger seat. It made it into the house, but instead of dinner, he ate half on his own. He mentioned there was no time for blowing out the candles (are we still doing this?), cutting or plating. He took a fork to it and kept implying to his family that he was just trying to “even it off” (haven’t we all been there?). Before he knew it half the cake was inhaled achieving his birthday wish. Oh what a heavenly treat straight from a certified winner!

Always creating a showstopper this is why Zaccardi achieved the Greatest American Baker title. Pictured here is her latest creation, a lemon blackberry pistachio meringue tart. The refreshing lemon curd is paired with blackberry jam and tucked into a pistachio crust garnished with cookies made from leftover dough, succulent blackberries, and torched Swiss meringue. Keep your eyes on the prize as Tina is working on new ideas for classes and tasty treats. Like many others in the media world it is always “Christmas in July” as she is currently preparing to create and produce custom cookie platters for the holiday season. Oh to be a lucky recipient! Watch for Tina’s upcoming appearances - including a Fourth of July celebration demo on CT Live NBC and Bridgestreet TV Syracuse. 

The precision of her baking coupled with the perfect execution and presentation that comes with her vast and ever expanding knowledge of each sweet treat is why Tina Ziccardi continues to be The Greatest American Baker. 

Details: 

The Italian Cookie

Augustina (Tina) Zaccardi

Eastchester, New York

www.tinazaccardi.com/tina-zaccardi-bakes

IG @theitaliancookie

Donna Monaco Olsen is a contributing food writer to many publications including WestchesterBites and CTBites. @DonnaDishes Instagram and FaceBook she reviews and recaps cooking demonstrations happening in NY Metro area restaurants and highlights recipe development. As the coordinator for Westchester Community College’s Lifelong Learning program titled “A Taste of Westchester,” she writes the program offering more than 125 cooking classes yearly, by recruiting chefs to host demonstrations in their restaurants. As a food educator, former cake decorator, and an avid baker, she writes about home cooking as well as develops recipes for cookbooks.

[Photography courtesy of @theitaliancookie]