A Kentucky woman wins a James Beard award and it might not be who you think

Lexington pastry chef Stella Parks won a coveted James Beard award recently for her cookbook, " BraveTart, Iconic American Desserts."

Parks, who blogged under the name BraveTart, began her career in food working for chef Ouita Michel at Wallace Station in Midway. Michel congratulated Parks on Twitter, saying "THIS is awseome!" Parks also worked at Michel's Holly Hill Inn in Midway.

Ironically, Michel, has been a Beard nominee several times but never won. Parks' debut book won Best Baking and Desserts book for 2018.

Parks said in an interview last July when the book came out that the 400-page book took nearly six years to write. She researched much of the history of desserts such as coconut cream pie, Fig Newtons, Little Debbie oatmeal cakes and more at the University of Kentucky's W.T. Young Library while baking and writing for Serious Eats.

Parks apparently was surprised by the win; she posted about her win on Friday evening with a Tweet that said "And the award for 'least prepared speech' goes to ..." with an image of her holding the Beard medal.

This story was originally published April 30, 2018 at 12:00 PM with the headline "A Kentucky woman wins a James Beard award and it might not be who you think."