Meet Duke’s Office Bakers
Employees share their confections with colleagues
One January, penguins invaded Duke’s Office of Information Technology.
They tossed snowballs and skated around – all on the surface of a vanilla cake, a confection Debbie Suggs, senior IT analyst for OIT, baked for a monthly birthday celebration in the department.
Suggs crafted the penguins and blue and white cake exterior with fondant, an icing used for decorating and molding, that she wrapped around the cake. Other cake creations for her office resemble trees, a DukeCard and flowerpots.
“I love baking and decorating because it’s time to just focus on the single task at hand,” Suggs said. “The payoff is wonderful too. I love seeing how appreciative people are when you bring in a treat. It can really lighten up someone’s day.”
This summer, we asked you to name your office’s bakers. Meet some employees at Duke who fill bellies and hearts with delicious concoctions.
Becky Pendergraft
Administrative Specialist, Duke University Hospital
Becky Pendergraft describes herself as “chocolate obsessed.”
She bakes chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake and chocolate cupcakes with Nutella buttercream. Her secret to the perfect chocolate recipe? Always mix in a bit of brewed dark coffee.
“A bit of coffee brings out the chocolate flavor,” she said. “It makes a difference.”
Pendergraft began baking for coworkers about eight years ago after attending a cake decorating class at a Michael’s store in Durham.
While she loves chocolate, Pendergraft changes up her creations for coworkers. For example, she picks up blueberries at the Duke Farmers Market for a blueberry lemon buttermilk Bundt cake. Sometimes, a Monday morning will call for sweet and savory maple bacon cupcakes.
“Not only are they delicious, but I love the creativity that she puts into each dessert,” said Kristina Hill, an administrative specialist at Duke University Hospital. “Becky is a remarkable baker.”
Meredith Bolon
Associate Director for Career Services, Fuqua School of Business
For nearly 30 years around the winter holidays, Meredith Bolon has baked hundreds of ginger spice, lime walnut, cardamom tea and butterscotch cashew cookies for coworkers and loved ones.
During the holiday season, Bolon’s kitchen countertop is covered with flour, sugar, dough and baking instruments.
While cookies are a constant for Bolon, she has gone through different baking phases. She made macarons for weeks after visiting France and is now enjoying creating anise and almond, pistachio and cranberry and double chocolate walnut biscotti.
Bolon has learned to keep extra flour, sugar, vanilla, baking powder and unsalted butter on hand.
“It’s key and cost-efficient to have ingredients stocked up,” she said. “I like to have the option of throwing together a batch of something quickly for a friend or event.”
Heather Mabry
Nursing Informatics Specialist, Duke Health Technology Solutions
Healthy Mabry can turn a tough day around by cracking eggs and whisking a few ingredients together.
“Baking puts the chaos back into order,” she said. “I have my two sticks of butter. I have my two eggs. I have my sugar. Let’s create something out of all this in the next hour.”
Mabry started baking in a home economics class in high school and honed on a chocolate chip cookie recipe over the years. She uses Nestle chocolate chips and doesn’t put vanilla in her recipe.
Colleagues enjoy her buckeye brownies, a decadent mix of gooey brownies that sit beneath creamy peanut butter and chocolate fudge.
“Heather is known to be an excellent baker and brings in treats for specific events and then totally random treats,” said Diana Turner, operations administrator for Duke University Hospital. “I always like the random baked goods.”
Cari Banks
Patient Advocate, Duke Perioperative Services
Cari Banks spent a year baking hundreds of cookies each morning as the sun rose while working at a Mrs. Fields.
She arrived at the Santa Barbara store around 6 a.m. and had pounds of white chocolate macadamia, triple chocolate and cinnamon sugar cookies ready when doors opened at 10 a.m.
“The store would smell incredible,” Banks said.
She still enjoys making cookies but has expanded her baking repertoire. She bakes brownies, banana bread and chocolate biscotti for her team of seven people. Her signature treat is cinnamon rolls around the holidays.
Banks doesn’t turn on the oven until the rolls are in. She said the rolls rise better if they are in the oven as they heat up.
“I like to put my treats in little baggies and leave them on my team’s desks,” she said. “Sharing baked goods is a way to recognize my team for all their hard work.”
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