Recently I interviewed Jocelyn Barda, the owner of Bakery Bar in Portland. She and her husband started this venture almost five years ago, with the original idea to be a place where customers could chow on wonderful pastries and cakes with a glass of wine, hence the name Bakery Bar. While the booze part didn't pan out, the name has stuck and Bakery Bar has quite a loyal following. When I met Jocelyn at 10am on Tuesday morning, her Glisan Street shop was filled with customers. The wonderful scent of Stumptown Coffee was in the air, and gorgeous scones, breads, and cookies were crying out my name from behind the glass case.
Here are the highlights from my chat with Jocelyn:
How did Bakery Bar begin?
I always loved cooking and baking, but my position as a marriage and child therapist did not allow much time for me to pursue that hobby. After my son was born, I stayed at home with him for three years. At the time, all of the pasty programs were based on the east coast. On a whim, I called Western Culinary School in Portland and discovered they were opening a pastry program. So, I went back to school and studied the art of pastries. My husband and I threw open the doors of Bakery Bar in December of 2005. We started with scones and coffee, the basics. We also began doing wedding cakes.
Tell me about the process of baking and decorating a wedding cake.
The process is very time-consuming, and we take care to be very organized. For a Saturday wedding, we will start to bake and cool the cake on a Thursday or Friday. We then have to frost, decorate, and deliver the cake. It's a multi-step process with a full time staff. We cover all of our cakes in butter cream frosting and decorate with fondant. Many couples do not know that we can color match practically any color with fondant decorations, so I encourage fabric swatches with your specific color, or designs from invitations that we can integrate into the cake.
What are the most popular cake colors?
White is still the most popular, but we rarely do white cakes with white decorations. I prefer a color scheme with three colors: two base colors and one accent. Those cakes really pop and are quite popular with our clients.
What is the most popular flavor?
Chocolate Devil's Food with Chocolate Mousse filing. (Side note: they also have a red velvet cake, lemon cake, and a lucious-sounding banana bourbon cake, among others).
Do you do cupcakes?
Although not as popular as they once were, we do bake cupcakes for weddings. Cupcakes are less expensive as well, which some couples appreciate.
How soon should couples place their cake order?
We are already booking for August 2010. During the high season, we try to limit to three cakes per day. It never hurts to start early.
Any cake ordering tips?
While it is fun to do cake tasting, I would not recommend starting the process until you have a date set and a venue secured. This will ensure the baker has the date available for you.
Have you ever dropped a cake?
No, but I dream about dropping them occasionally.
Any wedding cake horror stories?
I prefer to call them incidents. Once, we had a wedding way out in Eastern Oregon, and it was a very hot June day, around 100 degrees. The bride's friend came to pick up the cake, but said her air conditioning was not working in her car. We reminded her that the cake needed to be kept cool, or it would melt. Well, you can guess what happened. Word of caution: cakes melt like butter if left in a warm area. It's critical to ensure you place it in an air-conditioned area. If that is not possible, we can deliver the cake right before or even during the reception to ensure it does not melt.
Lindsay makes this comment
5 January 2010