A Day in My Life Working in a Test Kitchen in NYC

a free bonus article if you will, featuring a draft from pre-holidays!

Hi! A quick intro in case you’re new here: My name is Nea Arentzen, and I work in the test kitchen at a food media company called Food52, where I primarily develop recipes and create content. I also co-host a YouTube show called Recipe Drop, where we often feature guests like Christina Tosi and Sarah Fennel from Broma Bakery, and solo-host What’s For Fika, where I bake classic (and less-so) Swedish pastries. Additionally, I have a social video series documenting my day-to-day in the test kitchen, though I always feel like I don’t have enough time to include all the details. So, here we are!

(Quick disclaimer–as noted in the subtitle, this is a draft that I wrote up before the holidays but never got around to posting. That said, it’s a look into what most days in the office are like!

I’m sure many of you can relate—waking up early has been getting harder and harder. It’s dark, it’s cold, and after a Thanksgiving week filled with eating, drinking, and entertaining, I’m always exhausted. But nothing hits quite like a Monday.

I won’t lie—I didn’t have much of a plan going into work that morning. Our content strategy is evolving, which means some of our series are shifting, pausing, or expanding. If you follow Food52, you’ll soon see a lot more recipes, guides, and behind-the-scenes content coming your way. But without getting too deep into the weeds, let’s talk about what I actually did on Monday.

One of the great things about working at Food52 is the creative freedom, and that’s what led me to kick off a short Swedish Christmas social series. It’ll feature classic (and maybe not-so-classic) Swedish dishes for the holiday season, ending with a video on how to set up a proper julbord—the ultimate Swedish smorgasbord.

If you know Swedish holiday traditions, you’ve probably heard of saffron buns. Traditionally eaten on Lucia Day (December 13), they’re soft, golden, and shaped into S’s with raisins. But I wanted to put a twist on them—so I developed a saffron cake. Picture cinnamon rolls, but with saffron and a buttery sugar filling, rolled up and baked in a cake pan, then brushed with butter and sprinkled with sugar. I finalized the recipe a few weeks ago, but today was the day I’d film it for social media.

Most of my mornings follow the same rhythm: wake up at 6 or 6:30, drink my coffee (a 45-minute, candle-lit ritual—non-negotiable), do a quick 30-minute workout, then catch the bus to work around 8:45/9. Once I’m in the office, I eat a quick breakfast while checking emails (thankfully, never too many), do some recipe research, and map out my main tasks for the day. This usually takes me to about 9:45 or 10, when I either head into the test kitchen or jump into a meeting.

Mondays tend to be slower—because, well, it's Monday. Plus, there’s always some planning to do for the week ahead. So, I didn’t make it into the kitchen until around 10:30. I grabbed my ingredients from the pantry, printed out my recipe, and headed to the prop/sample room to pick out items for the shoot (hoping to make it all as visually appealing as possible). Then, it was time to film.

Without diving too deep into every step, the buns turned out mostly as expected. I’ve always used active dry yeast, but lately, I’ve switched to instant yeast—it saves time, and in my opinion, the results are nearly identical. The first rise went smoothly (I used the oven light trick for a DIY proofing box), but the second rise didn’t go quite as planned. Since it’s already December, the natural light in our kitchen shifts around 3 PM, meaning I had to wrap filming before then. As 2 PM rolled around, I rushed the proofing a bit, which led to an under-proofed dough. When baked, the top puffed up and cracked in a weird spot (you can see it in the overhead photo below). Nothing a little video editing and strategic camera angles can’t fix!

According to my camera roll, I shot the final clip at 3:08—just in time. If you make these at home, my advice? Be patient with the proofing. Your buns (and your future self) will thank you.

I usually aim to film at least two recipes in a day, but with a backlog of videos to edit and deliver, I spent the downtime between proofing and baking tackling those—along with filming a few quick tips and tricks. Once the buns were done, I snapped a photo and posted it in our "come and get it" Slack channel to let everyone know they were up for grabs.

The rest of the day was less eventful—mostly editing, writing up recipes, brainstorming content ideas (I’m thinking more behind-the-scenes glimpses of the test kitchen with the whole team), and prepping for meetings later in the week. If there’s anything you’d love to see from the test kitchen, let me know!

Stay updated on my Instagram to see my test kitchen day in the life videos and to stay updated on when new Food52 recipes go live.

Thanks as always for your support <3

xx

Nea