We didn’t just break the bread story at Audubon Park Community Market. Here are some other local oven-masters who are making the baking scene in Central Florida even more delicious.
Kaya’s executive pastry chef Clarice Lam keeps up with demand at Kapé Kaya, the weekly bakery pop-up. (NICK GEORGOUDIOU)
Instagram.com/Kaya.Orlando
Kapé Kaya only happens once a week — for now. The restaurant’s executive pastry chef, Clarice Lam, has owned her own bakery and restaurant, and this in-house pop-up is her way of scratching a creative itch. Based on the popularity (and the long lines), Lam said she hopes Kapé Kaya will be open two or more days a week.
“I’m classically French trained, but I have lived all over the world, so I have a really strong background, especially in eight different Asian techniques,” Lam said of her approach.
Picket Fence Bakery pivoted from a front yard shop to doing preorders. (NICK GEORGOUDIOU)
Instagram.com/PicketFenceBakery
Marcy Blake didn’t let a challenge like losing her sidewalk shop slow her down. The home baker, who turned a gifted sourdough starter into a popular neighborhood pop-up, mainly sold her loaves and cookies from an Instagram-friendly setup in her front yard. When the city of Orlando asked for the shop to be taken down, Blake didn’t miss a beat and now offers preorders and pickup instead of the honor system.
“We have this little ADU in the back that I rent out to nurses,” Blake said. “There was a girl back there, and we just got to be really good friends. She gave me some of her starter, which is like 50 years old. And if anybody gives you a sourdough, it means they love you.”
Jamar Allen and his kids pop up with their Slangin’ Dough at the Packing District Farmers Market regularly. (NICK GEORGOUDIOU)
Instagram.com/1SlanginDough
Slangin’ Dough is a family affair for Jamar Allen. Already a baker, he was introduced to sourdough as part of a summer school science project two years ago. Helping the kids ferment things led to testing out the starter with a loaf or two. That experiment turned into a regular pop-up business. Allen’s sisters serve as taste testers, his sons help with the market setup, and his daughter Sameenah makes the sweets.
“I actually think the regular cookies have lots and lots of sugar, and they’re really sweet,” Sameenah said when describing the difference between regular and sourdough cookies. “The sourdough cookies have a good balance of that sweetness with the base flavor. It’s just the right amount of sweet.”
Kaley McNeil and her occasional helpers get set up as the Slow Rise Sourdough Company at Shaka Donuts. (INSTAGRAM.COM/SLOWRISESOURDOUGHCO)
Instagram.com/SlowRiseSourdoughCo
Family is also front and center for Kaley McNeil. She started baking to have higher-quality foods for her family. After dropping off some sourdough bagels to a friend at her office, McNeil started getting requests for her goods and turned it into a cottage business called Slow Rise Sourdough Company. Along with pickup orders, she also provides bagels at The Burrow Cafe and Play, Grounding Roots and Shaka Donuts.
“I think a lot of cottage bakers that start out in the way that I do, they pivot to farmers markets and pop-ups and that type of thing,” McNeil said. “Because I am a mom of two toddlers, I was trying to be mindful and think about how I could do this a little bit differently. And so I had the idea of partnering with other small local businesses and coming up with a way that we can help support each other.”
Billy and Joedel Zaballero have become a popular stop for cookies and pandesal whenever they pop up as The Wooden Fork & Spoon. (NICK GEORGOUDIOU)
Instagram.com/TheWoodenForkandSpoon
All Billy Zaballero wanted was some good granola. Unable to find the exact mix and consistency that he liked, he decided that the do-it-yourself route was the way to go. He roped in his wife, Joedel, and the two soon began selling granola at the Lake Eola Farmers Market. That led to cookies and, eventually, to the traditional Filipino bread, pandesal. The Wooden Fork & Spoon is about the customer experience, but it’s also a very personal experience for the couple.
“I’m an engineer by nature, and I’m good with numbers, and I like things to be very set, which is baking,” Joedel Zaballero said. “It’s my stress reliever, and I get to enjoy it with my husband.”