Bolo Cakery owner Lisa Terry displays her cakes at her shop in Calgary, on Feb. 10.Jeff McIntosh/STRJMC
With a cult-like following for baked goods such as the Deeper More Delicious Cake and Bolo’s Best Ever Cinnamon Buns, Calgary’s Bolo Cakery has become a destination for many a sweet tooth in Alberta.
Owner Lisa Terry left a career in the oil and gas industry in spring 2018 to pursue her passion of making cakes and hasn’t looked back. She has managed to carve a spot out for herself in the city’s crowded bakery scene by being, well, just herself.
“When I first opened, I did want to be super on trend, but that is a lot of work and, generally, it just doesn’t lend itself to perfecting things. I want every cake to be perfect every time,” Ms. Terry says.
She jokes: “I’m Gordon Ramsay at the pass with every cake that goes out.”
The custom cake side of her business was thriving leading up to the pandemic, and although things may have slowed down for a short while, 2022 is trending to be a busy one – albeit a little different when it comes to cake sizes.
“I think the trend of microweddings will be here to stay. We’ve seen the return of bigger cake orders for larger weddings, but we are seeing so many more orders for smaller cakes that feed 20 to 30 people,” she says. “Weddings are expensive, let’s be real, and people have seen now that their celebrations don’t always need to be as large as before.”
Alberta’s food scene will see a large-scale mentality change in the year ahead
Canadian chefs offer a taste of Lunar New Year
Inside her bakeshop, Ms. Terry has chosen to hone in on a small range of baked goods that includes cookies and the aforementioned cakes and cinnamon buns. She maintains their quality and consistency while occasionally releasing new items.
She’s always experimenting in the kitchen – while considering just how practical some creations would be to produce at larger scale should the demand increase.
“We are always doing research and development. When you’re writing recipes for a certain thing, whether it’s a cookie, a cake or otherwise, you do have to make sure that if it becomes really popular can I sustain this,” she says. “Supply chain issues are still affecting so many industries, including the baking industry, so I also stay mindful of that.”
Inside her bakeshop, Ms. Terry has chosen to hone in on a small range of baked goods that includes cookies and the aforementioned cakes and cinnamon buns.Jeff McIntosh/STRJMC
In Edmonton, another sweets creator is also all for trying new things. Ask anyone there and they will tell you that Jacek Chocolate Couture is the chocolatier to look to when in search of striking bonbons and other cocoa-bean-based confections.
Opened in late 2009, owner Jacqueline Jacek has kept the bar high for more than 12 years by modelling her seasonal release approach from the world of fashion. It’s something that helps her continually think outside of the box and maintains her patrons’ curiosity.
“For me, it’s less about following trends and more about curiosity about what could be possible,” Ms. Jacek says. “Curiosity played a huge role in our upcoming Couture 2022 Spring Collection, which is launching at the end of February. It’s not about what’s hot now, but what we imagine and hope chocolate of the future to be.”
In winter 2021, and after one year of research and development, Ms. Jacek released an oat milk chocolate bar. The first of its kind in Western Canada, it balances cocoa butter, cocoa nibs, sugar and high quality oat milk powder to offer a taste and texture near-identical to her standard milk chocolate bars.
Ms. Terry has managed to carve a spot out for herself in the city’s crowded bakery scene by being, well, just herself.Jeff McIntosh/STRJMC
Several chocolate makers, large and small, are expanding into the plant-based realm. Most recently, Canadian chocolatier Purdy’s launched a vegan version of their Sweet Georgia Browns.
“Valrhona launched a line called Inspirations, which is fruit, cocoa bean and sugar refined together for a white chocolate but fruity experience,” Ms. Jacek says. “And Amatika, which uses almonds instead of dairy to achieve the creaminess. At Jacek, we are always adding new vegan products as this is a growing market for us.”
With her new spring releases, Ms. Jacek hopes to push the boundaries of what Edmontonians look for in chocolate. By way of fillings, she is incorporating some unorthodox, but playful flavours such as sriracha and parmesan. She would also like people to find value in the regionality of cacao and how specific beans are sourced.
“We imagine a future where consumers will ask about the cacao used in the dessert menu just like they would when ordering wine in a restaurant. We have included a single origin Peruvian bonbon made from the rare and coveted Nacional cacao from the Maranon Valley ... to bring awareness to the farmers and the impact of thoughtful sourcing,” she says.
We have a weekly Western Canada newsletter written by our B.C. and Alberta bureau chiefs, providing a comprehensive package of the news you need to know about the region and its place in the issues facing Canada. Sign up today.