Category: Bakery
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Eastern Flavors, European techniques
When I was a kid I loved milk chocolate: milky ways, caramellos, reese’s peanut butter cups. I remember my mom saying ‘just you wait. When you get older your palette will change and all those will taste too sweet’. Didn’t believe her then, but she proved to be right. I think most American desserts suffer…
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Truffles & Bonbons: My Journey
I grew up with a mom who started a truffle business and as much as I loved eating them, I resented having to decorate and fill boxes after school rather than play outside. But the experience ultimately inspired me to try my hand at bonbons and I’ve never looked back. Chocolate truffles are rich, ganache-filled…
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The Joys (and Challenges) of Running a Cottage Bakery
I’ve been an artist and designer (jefdesigns.com) for 25 years. But starting in 2020 I developed a love of baking that became an obsession. Since then it’s branched out into French entremets and chocolate bonbons. Last year I made it official and registered FIKA as a cottage bakery. A cottage bakery is a small-scale, home-based…
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The Sweet Upside of Custom Orders
I’ve had the pleasure of doing several custom orders and I really enjoy giving the customer the option of having something special for their event. Some past examples: a chocolate basque cake for a birthday, a batch of entremet for a dinner party, key lime bars for a Memorial Day picnic. And 200 scones for…
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September Bake Sale
Saturday September 7th sale includes: Cream Custard Bars. Creamy custard with a graham cracker pecan crust. Empanadas filled with Sausage, Gruyere Cheese and Carmelized Leeks. Butterscotch toffee shortbread cookies filled with a vanilla cream. Things have been selling out quickly so send me an email if interested
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Popup Success
My first popup ever was a huge success. It was at the vintage store, Curios on Hawthorne. I decided on some of my most popular items: Lemon/Rosemary, Salted Caramel, and Chocolate Mint Cremes. Key Lime Bars, Guava Cream Cheese Empanadas, and Pandan Coconut Custard Cake. People started buying before my booth was completely setup, and…
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August Pop-up
I’m having my first popup bakery sale this Saturday the 10th! It’s at a new vintage store called Curios on Hawthorne on 3713 SE Hawthorne Blvd. In addition to my baked goods, there will be pizza and wine from Portland Wine Company. If any locals are in town, I’ll be there from 2-6 so stop…
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Truffle Evolution
I grew up with a mother who made truffles for a living in our home kitchen. I have vivid memories of large batches of ganache, a professional tempering machine, and being her assistant decorating the different flavors. At the time I was less than excited to be working right after school, but now I’m grateful…
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Specialty Desserts
Of all the specialty desserts I do, the first I tried baking were my Italian grandma’s sweet cheese pastries. I was obsessed with these as a kid. Light flaky pastry with a filling of cream cheese, ricotta and almond extract. She only made them for the holidays, so I would eat my body weight’s worth.…
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Lamination Love
My first foray into baking was making croissants. I think Tartine Bakery in San Francisco does the best ham & cheese croissant I’ve ever tasted and they were generous to create a recipe book for me to use. Making laminated dough is an involved process, but for some reason I love it. And it’s so…