Alumni Success Stories

Why did you decide to study French pastry at Le Cordon Bleu-Sookmyung Academy?
Because French pastry is the foundation of pastry-making, I enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu-Sookmyung Academy to build a solid foundation skill and learn various pastry techniques. Back in 2020, when I was attending the academy, I had already been working as a pâtissier for 13 years. I was a pâtissier in independent patisseries, hotel pastry departments, and also in pastry cafés owned by large companies. While continuously studying pastry and gaining diverse experience. That same year, I also ran a cake atelier specializing in shortcakes and chiffon cakes. However, through this experience I realized that hands-on experience alone had its limitations. Wanting to strengthen my skills through a more systematic education. I decided to enroll at Le Cordon Bleu-Sookmyung Academy to strengthen my fundamentals and learn various pastry techniques.

What are you currently doing after graduating?
While I was attending school, I was running a small cake atelier called “Le Chance Cake Atelier." I specialized in a variety of fresh cream-based cakes such as fresh cream cakes, chiffon cakes and flower cakes, while also offering classes to students. However, I wanted to launch a more professional brand and expand my business, which led me to open "kounkounn."
The word “koun” means “luck” in Japanese. I wanted to give a cuter touch, which led me to create the brand name “kounkounn”. Having always been fond of Japan and chiffon cakes, I decided to create a shop specializing in chiffon cakes, which were still rare in Korea. Based on this concept, I now offer various chiffon-based desserts, including chiffon cakes, chiffon sandos, chiffon roll cakes, and chiffon cupcakes, while also conducting pastry classes.

What are the differences between running a pastry shop in a department store’s gourmet food market and running your own independent pastry shop, and what challenges and opportunities do you encounter in each?
An independent pastry shop typically attracts customers who are genuinely passionate about pastry, so I can focus on creating more specialized products, and I have the advantage of flexibly adjusting my operating schedule.
In contrast, department stores attract more walk-in and first-time customers, who tend to be drawn to eye-catching and visually appealing products rather than specialized products. For example, when strawberries are in season, cakes topped generously with strawberries have a significant impact on sales. Additionally, operating in a department store requires producing significantly larger volumes, and establishing a stable production line is essential.
The systematic techniques and solid foundation I gained at the academy have greatly helped me enhance product quality and stabilize operations. During class, chefs gave us advice based on their experience. In particular, their advice that “maintaining consistent quality is just as crucial as the production speed”, has been especially helpful in large-scale production. In the beginning, our production line was unstable, which brought many challenges. However, by applying the fundamentals I learned at the academy along with real-world experience, I was able to minimize trial and error, and I am now gradually expanding the business.

How does kounkounn incorporate current pastry trends?
While many trendy desserts gain popularity on social media, kounkounn prioritizes maintaining its unique brand identity rather than chasing every trend. Trends change rapidly, and constantly keeping up with them would mean frequently altering our menu and readjusting our production processes, which would inevitably lead to mistakes.

Instead, we focus on exploring innovative ways to create new products based on chiffon cakes. Rather than blindly following trends, our strategy is to preserve the unique characteristics of chiffon cakes and our brand identity and keep a steady north star. 

How has the pastry training at Le Cordon Bleu been helpful in your business?
Thanks to my training at Le Cordon Bleu, even when making the same product, I can now approach it more professionally, and I also have gained the knowledge and the expertise to ensure both aesthetic appeal and taste. Without a solid foundation, developing or adapting new products can be a slow and difficult process. However, applying the techniques I learned at the academy has made product development much easier.

In particular, by systematically acquiring the fundamental principles of pastry has improved my ability to work with different ingredients and combinations, which has been invaluable in creating a diverse range of chiffon cakes. Although kounkounn does not specialize in French pastry, almost all of our products incorporate French pastry techniques.

For example, by use pastry cream as a base to make diplomat cream, which we incorporate into various product. Pastry cream itself is highly versatile – it can be adjusted to a thinner consistency by increasing  the moisture content or transformed into new flavors by substituting milk and fresh cream with juice or purée.

We also modify and use crémeux in various ways. With its smooth texture and deep flavor, crémeux is an excellent element for harmonizing with chiffon cakes. It is often used as a garnish on top of chiffon cakes or incorporated as an insert, allowing it to blend seamlessly with the chiffon base.

One of our signature creation is the Kumquat Cheese Chiffon Sandwich Cake. This sando features a harmonious combination of cheese mouse, kumquat marmalade, and pomegranate coulis. By molding the mousse into a more refined shape, the overall presentation becomes neater and more elegant. The final touch of cheese cream enhances the balance, creating a perfectly harmonious flavor and texture.

My sibling also runs a French pastry shop called La Base and together we successfully developed the Saint-Honoré Chiffon Sandwich Cake, which has been selling very well. This creation features a chiffon base topped with choux pastry, vanilla chantilly cream, salted caramel, and raspberry coulis, adding a touch of acidity for a more balanced flavor. Notably we incorporated the classic Saint-Honoré-style decoration, blending the essence of Japanese and French pastry.

I am planning to incorporate French pastry techniques even more extensively when developing a variety of new products. Based on the techniques I have learned, I would like to continue experimenting and make new creations!  

What is your most memorable experience from Le Cordon Bleu?
I especially remember when we had to make sugar and chocolate showpieces. In the industry; it is rare to specialize in sugar work, and there aren’t many opportunities to learn chocolate art, so taking those classes at school was a truly unique experience.

The process of meticulously crafting each piece was incredibly fulfilling. While it was challenging, seeing the finished piece filled me with a deep sense of accomplishment that I still cherish. The only downside was that these showpieces were so large that they were difficult to take home, so I had to keep only pictures of them. I remember my classmates and I admiring each other’s work while also feeling slightly sad that we couldn’t keep our crafts. 

What are the key qualities to succeed in the pastry industry?
In my opinion, persistence, endurance, and practical skills are the most important qualities, and I think success comes to those who persevere. Pastry-making is hard, it is physically demanding and requires intense focus, but above all, consistency is crucial. While one’s competence and technical skills are important, I believe that having the determination to never give up and keep pushing forward is what ultimately leads to success.

Any tips for alumni who dream of starting their own business?
Practice and repetition are crucial. Learning and dreaming are important, but they only become meaningful when put into action. Mastery comes through continuous repetition, which requires hundred or even a thousand times more effort than others. Skills are not innate, they are built through hard work and practice.

If you have a goal, don’t give up and keep pushing forward. Many people fail simply because they don’t stick to these obvious values. Being afraid of failure is natural, but you can only grow by overcoming trial and error. I have also experienced countless failures to get where I am now. I will continue challenging myself and bounce back like a roly-poly toy.

What are your future goals and plans?
My goal is to expand kounkounn until chiffon cakes become even more popular and widely loved. We are planning to renovate our flagship store in Sangsu to operate as both a café and a pastry classroom,. Additionally, we are planning to open two to three more department store locations. I believe that as long as we keep moving forward toward our goals, we will eventually achieve them.

To me, Le Cordon Bleu is?
To me, Le Cordon Bleu is the institution that helped me grow.

It allowed me to hone my pastry skills in detail, and I continue to apply what I learned in many aspects of running kounkounn. If you dream of pursuing a career in pastry, I highly recommend studying systematically from the basics to advanced techniques in pastry at Le Cordon Bleu. It will be an invaluable experience, and you won’t regret it. Most importantly, don’t forget the importance of practice and repetition!