Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Mmm… Cakes… and cookies, and cinnamon rolls, and danishes
Third Avenue bakery brings baking show fun to Chula Vista
A five-layer rainbow cake: only a hint of this baker's creativity
They say a lot of Americans took up baking, roughly two years ago this month. I’m not one of them, but during the pandemic I did start paying closer attention to the bakeries doing business around San Diego. I would argue my diet of well-made sourdough loaves, croissants, and eclairs has been more fun. But perhaps not more fun than the baked goods heating up Third Avenue, Chula Vista.
Mmm… Cakes officially opened in the fall, launched by Jose Barajas, the veteran baker and Chula native who’s made a name for himself competing in (and winning) TV baking competitions. Step into the shop and you may spot examples of the artfully whimsical cakes behind the culinary institute grad’s success. If not, it’s truly worth a glance at his Instagram, where photos of his stunning works include cartoonish creations modeled after Baby Yoda, a Mortal Combat arcade game, and Petco Park stadium.
A s'mores cookie: thick graham cracker cookie topped by chocolate chips and toasted marshmallows
Without a doubt, the availability of such custom cakes is a boon to South Bay special occasions, but may not even be the best part. For walk-in customers, Barajas and his familial business partners have put together a pastry menu and café environment worth visiting, and revisiting, just about any day of the week (the bakery’s currently closed Sunday and Monday).
A bakery and cafe designed with Instagram in mind
For starters, you can always get a slice of cake for $8.50. Granted, this will be a slice of a relatively simple, round cake, primarily classics including chocolate, carrot cake, red velvet, and Jamaica’s famous, spiced pineapple and banana Hummingbird cake. You might also spot a daily special, such as a five-layer rainbow cake on display during my recent visit.
The parrot chandelier booth at Mmm... Cakes
Like I said, the place is a lot of fun. In addition to photogenic baked goods — such as a s’mores cookie of thick graham cracker shortbread topped by toasted marshmallows — the place has spirited décor, anchored by palm frond wallpaper, pink neon signs, and a corner booth lit up by a rather mesmerizing stained glass parrot chandelier. A pastry loving coffee drinker could spend a lot of time here.
Cinnamon roll topped by Nutella spread
For all the impressive ingenuity, what may be most clever is how the bakery addresses those everyday pastries that can keep guests coming through the door in between weddings and birthdays. Take cinnamon rolls as an example. Most bakeries offer a cinnamon roll, maybe a choice of glazed of unglazed. At Mmm… Cakes, a single pan of cinnamon rolls may yield several products. For $5, you may choose a glazed orange roll, glazed pecan roll, or one that’s so simple I can’t believe I haven’t tried it before: a cinnamon roll glazed with the hazelnut spread, Nutella.
A savory, chicken pot pie danish
This common base, multiple products approach is taken even further with the bakery’s long list of danishes. From a simple, flaky base, Mmm… Cakes makes plenty of usual and unusual sweet offerings, including a cheese danish, mixed berry, and peanut butter and jelly ($5.25).
More surprising are the litany of savory danishes ($8 apiece). From this, you’ll find breakfast-friendly egg danishes featuring ham, bacon, or chorizo. Or, if you want to skip the eggs, you’ll find a danish filled with rajas (chili and cream); a Thanksgiving danish of turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce; and a chicken pot pie danish that almost fills you up more than a danish ought to.
As I first walked into Mmm… Cakes, I thought to myself, “Third Avenue needed a place like this.” By time I walked out, I was thinking, “My neighborhood needs a bakery like this.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Mmm… Cakes… and cookies, and cinnamon rolls, and danishes
Third Avenue bakery brings baking show fun to Chula Vista
Mmm… Cakes… and cookies, and cinnamon rolls, and danishes
Third Avenue bakery brings baking show fun to Chula Vista
A five-layer rainbow cake: only a hint of this baker's creativity
They say a lot of Americans took up baking, roughly two years ago this month. I’m not one of them, but during the pandemic I did start paying closer attention to the bakeries doing business around San Diego. I would argue my diet of well-made sourdough loaves, croissants, and eclairs has been more fun. But perhaps not more fun than the baked goods heating up Third Avenue, Chula Vista.
Mmm… Cakes officially opened in the fall, launched by Jose Barajas, the veteran baker and Chula native who’s made a name for himself competing in (and winning) TV baking competitions. Step into the shop and you may spot examples of the artfully whimsical cakes behind the culinary institute grad’s success. If not, it’s truly worth a glance at his Instagram, where photos of his stunning works include cartoonish creations modeled after Baby Yoda, a Mortal Combat arcade game, and Petco Park stadium.
A s'mores cookie: thick graham cracker cookie topped by chocolate chips and toasted marshmallows
Without a doubt, the availability of such custom cakes is a boon to South Bay special occasions, but may not even be the best part. For walk-in customers, Barajas and his familial business partners have put together a pastry menu and café environment worth visiting, and revisiting, just about any day of the week (the bakery’s currently closed Sunday and Monday).
A bakery and cafe designed with Instagram in mind
For starters, you can always get a slice of cake for $8.50. Granted, this will be a slice of a relatively simple, round cake, primarily classics including chocolate, carrot cake, red velvet, and Jamaica’s famous, spiced pineapple and banana Hummingbird cake. You might also spot a daily special, such as a five-layer rainbow cake on display during my recent visit.
The parrot chandelier booth at Mmm... Cakes
Like I said, the place is a lot of fun. In addition to photogenic baked goods — such as a s’mores cookie of thick graham cracker shortbread topped by toasted marshmallows — the place has spirited décor, anchored by palm frond wallpaper, pink neon signs, and a corner booth lit up by a rather mesmerizing stained glass parrot chandelier. A pastry loving coffee drinker could spend a lot of time here.
Cinnamon roll topped by Nutella spread
For all the impressive ingenuity, what may be most clever is how the bakery addresses those everyday pastries that can keep guests coming through the door in between weddings and birthdays. Take cinnamon rolls as an example. Most bakeries offer a cinnamon roll, maybe a choice of glazed of unglazed. At Mmm… Cakes, a single pan of cinnamon rolls may yield several products. For $5, you may choose a glazed orange roll, glazed pecan roll, or one that’s so simple I can’t believe I haven’t tried it before: a cinnamon roll glazed with the hazelnut spread, Nutella.
A savory, chicken pot pie danish
This common base, multiple products approach is taken even further with the bakery’s long list of danishes. From a simple, flaky base, Mmm… Cakes makes plenty of usual and unusual sweet offerings, including a cheese danish, mixed berry, and peanut butter and jelly ($5.25).
More surprising are the litany of savory danishes ($8 apiece). From this, you’ll find breakfast-friendly egg danishes featuring ham, bacon, or chorizo. Or, if you want to skip the eggs, you’ll find a danish filled with rajas (chili and cream); a Thanksgiving danish of turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce; and a chicken pot pie danish that almost fills you up more than a danish ought to.
As I first walked into Mmm… Cakes, I thought to myself, “Third Avenue needed a place like this.” By time I walked out, I was thinking, “My neighborhood needs a bakery like this.”
Commentskimiakalarazi
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
March 17, 2022