our pastries
Our pastries are made in small batches, using organic, whole grain flours, natural levain, and island produce. We source most of our flours from Cairnspring Mill in the Skagit Valley, who work with farmers in Skagit and throughout WA and OR who use organic practices. We source other grains like buckwheat, corn, millet, and rye from Fairhaven Mill, also in Skagit.
Pastries made with whole grains are significantly more flavorful and nutritious than commodity white flour that sadly became the standard in America. Not only is whole grain better for you, it is also much easier to digest, and many gluten sensitive folks are more able to enjoy bread and pastries that are made with whole grains.
We also use sourdough as our primary levain in our danishes, cardamom buns, and brioche donuts. Sourdough imparts more depth of flavor, and allows doughs to ferment more slowly, which allows the living cultures to pre-digest the grains, making for a more easily digested pastry.
Almost all of our produce comes from farms on Orcas, but in the peak of summer we just have to say Yes to nectarines and corn from Eastern WA! For such a small island, we have a thriving farm community, and most of what we use comes from West Beach Farm, Orcas Farm, Rising Oak Farm, Morningstar Farm, and Wise Owl Wellness Farm. All of our eggs come from Lum Farm, and we also source our chevre and cajeta from them. We pick gallons and gallons of blackberries ourselves each summer, as well as responsible foraging nettles, nootka roses, elderflower, sweet woodruff, fir tips, and other seasonal plants. We freeze close to 50 pounds of summer fruit each year, which we use at the end of winter when we just can’t bring ourselves to cook (or eat) another apple or squash.
We’ve been expanding our gluten-free options, and these have become some of our favorites. We believe that pastries can be gluten-free without all of the fillers and starches that make up GF flour blends that you find on the shelf. We aim to bake things that already need low gluten, mostly pastries that already find structure from eggs, and substitute AP flour with flavorful, whole grain GF flours, never any starches, gums, or ingredients that you can’t pronounce. These make our GF options really unique- we start with the goal of creating a flavorful treat with a specific grain flavor and work down from there, instead of trying to replicate something familiar and engineer it to be GF.
We think pastries are one of the universal comforts in the world; a warm hug when you’re feeling down, a special treat when you’re celebrating, an excuse to catch up with a friend. Thoughtful food can often feel inaccessible, but the beauty of a pastry is that it doesn’t break the bank. We strive to bake goods that are exciting and familiar, simple and complex, nutritious and indulgent. We hope you can taste how much we love what we do!