Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. has been a physician, university professor, information technology consultant, and ardent amateur baker. He developed a love of great bread growing up in New York City in the 1960s and '70s and began traveling to bread-loving countries like France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Britain, and Morocco, to sample and learn. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two daughters.

Zoë François is a pastry chef and baker trained at the Culinary Institute of America. In addition to writing best-selling cookbooks, she creates tasty desserts on her pastry blog ZoeBakes.com, as well as for the Cooking Channel, General Mills, and many national magazines. Zoë lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two sons.