Welcome to Bayou Saint News
This week: an introduction & an online class announcement
Hello and thank you for being here!
Bayou Saint News is a free bimonthly newsletter for dessert enthusiasts and the people who bake for them.
For folks based in New Orleans- you’ll now have access to announcements about Bayou Saint Cake monthly menu drops, local in-person classes, pop-ups, and more. In time, you’ll also have early access to pre-orders for slices and whole cakes.
For everyone else - I’ll be creating special recipes for you once a month, including cakes and sweets of all stripes. You’ll also now be the first to know about online classes, and you’ll get exclusive discount codes just for being here.
I’m also eager to use this newsletter to polish my writing chops and share perspectives on the world of dessert.
Lastly, I’ll be using this space to reflect on owning a small baking business and sharing what insights I’ve garnered from doing this work for the past three years. This will include some spicy opinions, musings on money management & food costing, building a menu, and making business decisions as a creative with no formal business training. Ultimately, I hope to build a community of cottage bakers (and everyone else who has opted out of the brick and mortar food business model) where we’ll share insights with each other and vent about the aches and pains. Full disclosure: eventually part of this work may be behind a modest paywall, but for now I’m sharing it with everyone. If there’s something you’d love to hear me talk about, please don’t hesitate to ask!
A Class Announcement!
I’m teaching another online cake decorating class with 177 Milk Street on Wednesday, July 12th!
You’ll get a recipe for a semolina cake with buttercream and jam, and I go into (almost tedious??) amounts of detail about how to decorate with fresh flowers. There’s a power point presentation! I drag out opinions on composition strategy from the bowels of my art school education! You’ll also learn my dirty secret: while I’m poised online, I’m a bit shy in real life, and I’ll be 100% nervous to meet everyone over zoom, but we’ll get through it together. Tickets are $64.95, and everyone gets a video of the class if you’re unable to make the zoom. Use the code BAKEWITHBRONWEN to get 15% off!
Sneak peek of my first “powerpoint” since high school here:
A week before the class, you’ll get both the recipe and an overview on sourcing edible flowers and greens, and tips to find them if you don’t have access to a farmer’s market/ growing network. One of my favorite cakes from the last class featured only mint! I truly believe that it’s possible to design a beautiful, flowy, organic-looking cake using minimal elements (which isn’t to say I’m not also down with throwing the whole floral book at a cake - we’re into maximalism and minimalism in equal measures!).
Here’s the link to sign up, currently exclusive to newsletter subscribers:
For my locals who have scrolled down this far: a treat. I’m planning a cake-by-the-slice event for Saturday, June 17th at my home base: the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. More details soon!
I’m so excited for this new expressive outlet for you! Looking forward to reading 📖