Welcome to IronWhisk!
My name is Ilan Kogan [EE-lan], and I’m a Canadian food blogger. IronWhisk, started in 2011, covers mainly dessert recipes. There is a particular focus on pastries inspired by Japanese and French flavours & techniques, as well as the reverse-engineering of popular creations by famous pastry chefs. I use both sugar and puns liberally.
I always try to find innovative and complicated creations to share. The vast majority of the desserts on this website take at least a couple of days to prepare. While certainly some can be challenging, with challenge comes reward!
I started IronWhisk when I was in high school. But now, I have completed my undergraduate business degree at the Schulich School of Business, York University and work as a management consultant. When not blogging, I like to read about statistics and save bees.
I am sixteen too and love to cook! Do you want to become a chef when you get older? I do and like yourself I watch Iron Chef and alot of the other shows on Food Network. I live in the United States and at my school we have a culinary class! It is fun and we learn the fundamentals of cooking.
Hey Angelie!
Thanks for stopping by :)
I’m not really sure what I want to do when I get older… I’ll see when I get there.
The talent is definitely there! Good luck in whatever you choose to do :)
HEY ILAN! i think your food looks great, i love to cook, i watch food network every night. do you watch it and get recipes from there? do you create your own recipes? okay msg me back or ill prank cal you :)
Hey Cierra!
I get my recipes from a lot of different places and mix and match until I find what I’m looking for. Glad you like food network as much as I do :)
you’re incredible. you are my idol and maybe one day i can be as good as you.
Hey :) adorable blog! Dona here, age 15, another teen to finds baking/cooking a crazy science experiment! LOL i just never got a chance (or the skills rather!) to make such a lovely blog like yours and share my secrets when it comes to the kitchen :P i do enjoy cooking, but mostly because of the lovely smell it creates. any cook will agree that the best part of a recipe is when the food is heating and you could smell the fregrance englufing you (or is it just me?LOL) please do dont stop blogging! will drop by every now and then to check for the new adventures you had in your kitchen :P with lots of sugar and spices, Dona <3 <3 <3
Ps. would you like to try some of my cookies? i'll try to send it as a mail :))
Thanks for visiting Dona! I appreciate it :)
It’s definitely not just you. I love the smell of cinnamon especially!
Cookies?! Sure, send them over!
Thanks for commenting my site. It’s amazing that you are so young and have put together such a nice blog. Keep up the good work. And good luck on your future endeavors.
Hey there Ilan:
Your blog is funny- hmm that didn’t come out right, didn’t it? haha- but honestly, you are a very talented boy. I can’t cook to save my life, so I appreciate good cooking any day!
*Beep beep- food connoisseur poppin’ in*
Great blog!
You mentioned somewhere that you don’t know what you want to do- I TOTALLY relate. You have SOO many talents, so you’ll be fine :) I myself have pursued a business degree, graduated, and found out that this field wasn’t for me, and somehow, viola!, I’m in dental school now! TMI LOL, but just showing you that you have MANY options and your talents can take you anywhere.
Btw, don’t you think your awesome blog is deserving of a picture of yourself? You know, just to reveal to the masses what an intellectual looks like? LOL , just some food for thought! :)
Hey Danielle! There’s a picture of me on this page, albeit blocked by camera lenses. Perhaps I’ll post a new one later this week :)
Haha you don’t need a new pic- this one’s just fine- nevermind we don’t see your eyes. You can make it into your thaaang, you know, your look, like Slipknot. And everyone and his dog knows that Slipknot rocks.
Hmm.. I guess I will have to weigh both options carefully!
Hello Ilan! I’ve actually been following your blog for the longest time but I didn’t know that you are 18 too! I just wanted to say hi to a fellow teen baker and that I think that you’re a pretty darn amazing one:)
Dear Ilan,
I wish you live next door to me!
I graduated culinary school in pastry, and I would love to try out
your creative recipe in my kitchen.
I don’t have my blog yet, but will you email me so I can give you
some feedback ? :)))
Done!
I appreciate your disciplined, clear and thorough approach to giving directions as well as the reasoning for techniques or ingredients. Bravo on the eclairs piece. This dedication is rare for a person your age. Well done and thank you. Also, I watched a number of videos on making eclairs last week and was quite disappointed as they seemed to skip some important steps or techniques and never even mentioned the specific types of flour or the mixture of milk and water.
You are so young to know all this! You look like have years of experience, how old were you when you started baking? I stumbled upon your website and love it!
Hmm.. I think around 12 maybe? I don’t remember to be honest. Thanks so much! :)
hey Illan – a very impressive site you have! i love your recipes and detail that you go into with each post. inspired by what i’ve seen and will be trying out a few things.
Hi ilan, I graduated from pastry school. This’s my first time read your blog and I’m so amazed you know all of baking very well than me!!
Thank you bcause I learn a lot from your blog, keep writing and good luck for your future!!
Hello Ilan,
first of all, i want to congratulate you for your work on this blog and your perseverance to looking for perfection in all your recipes.
As you are a perfectionist, i thought looking for recipe to make waffles ( liege, thick or bruxelles, soft ) like in belgium.
i have some recipes, but they don’t give me full satisfaction.
I didn’t find any waffle recipe on your blog.
Do you have any or do you plan to make some ?
Thank you again for your great work.
I realize this is an old comment, but I do now! Check out my recipe for Liège waffles.
Hi there, Ilan! It seems like you’ve stopped blogging, but you should just know that I regularly use your recipes. I’ve recommended your choux and macaron recipes to a bunch of friends. Thanks for these gems!