SWEET TO THE CORE
Baker makes a book out of her pretty, pastel and Instagrammable fare
Tessa Sam is the first to admit she isn’t a big fan of cooking.
“You know, it’s funny: I love to eat, but I don’t really enjoy the cooking process,” she says.
While the admission may not seem too out of the ordinary, it’s exponentially more curious given that Sam is not only a celebrated baker, but also a cookbook author.
“Perhaps it’s because I really love to follow a recipe to a T,” she says.
“The thing I love about baking is that you absolutely must follow a recipe, or else the chance of your cake failing is very high,” she adds, “whereas with cooking, if you forget the salt, you can add it in later. “Maybe I just like the risk.” While it may have been that risk-versus-reward ratio that drew Sam further into the baking world, her initial interest was all thanks to her family.
“I think I had my first encounter with cookie dough when I was about three years old,” she says. “My parents were very into baking, and I remember standing on a stepstool, helping them make cookies.”
Despite that early introduction to the world of baking, it wasn’t until her early 20s that Sam revisited the hobby when, after working in radio as an on-air co-host, she became hungry for a career change.
“I was miserable,” Sam says of the broadcast gig. “And once I left, I began baking for myself.”
What first began as a personal pick-me-up after leaving her career quickly segued into a summer job at a small local bakery. It was there that Sam decided to turn her passion into a full-time career.
“I fell in love with baking not only because of the delicious treats, but because of the way it transforms people’s moods,” she says. “Watching customers’ eyes light up when talking about or eating their favourite dessert was magical.
“Good food has such a way of doing that, and that was something that I knew I wanted to be a part of.”
In 2014, Sam took a leap and opened a small bakery in Vancouver’s Yaletown. She called it the Sweet Bake Shop.
“I decided to open the small bakery so that I could share my treats and love of baking with the public,” she says. Relying solely on word-of-mouth marketing and the growing influence of her social media presence, Sam thought she could ease into the world of baking as a business owner.
As it turns out, she was wrong. “I was so wrong,” she says. “In the beginning, I found it hard to manage my new professional life and getting used to those 18-hour days was tough, but slowly, everything fell into place.”
After a year of operating her business, Sam was approached by a major book publisher with the opportunity to pen her own baking book. It was an offer she couldn’t turn down.
“While running the bakery was amazing, I had always wanted to write a book and felt that this opportunity was one I couldn’t pass up,” she says.
“Had the bakery been open for longer or had I had the team in place to allow me to step back and write this book, I would have kept it open. However, I knew that waiting another year for that to happen wasn’t something I could do, as I didn’t want to miss this wonderful opportunity to partner with such a big publisher.”
She made the decision to shutter Sweet Bake Shop and turn her full attention to her book. Over a year and a half, Sam mixed, baked, perfected and finally photographed all the recipes she hoped to see included.
Sam’s work was published this month by Penguin Random House Canada. Sharing the name of her bakery, the hardcover book sees Sam merge her creative creations with her trademark Instagramapproved look.
“I would describe the esthetic as very feminine, clean and pretty,” she says. “My favourite colour has always been pink and I love anything feminine … I find that keeping everything consistent is very easy, as the designs and colours truly reflect what I love and who I am, so I never really have to overthink it.”
The full-colour pages feature snapshots of tiered slices cut from cakes and stacks of delicate macarons. One thumb through the pages is enough to make even the staunchest of dieters crave a sugar rush.
The photographs might make the recipes seem too much to stomach for anyone but an expert baker, but Sam assures they’re simple enough for even the most inexperienced in the kitchen.
“They’re easy to follow, reliable, delicious and pretty,” she says. “I’m proud to say that I can stand behind every recipe and these are honestly some of my favourite desserts.”
Which treat is her favourite? “Oh, it’s so hard to choose,” she says. “I would have to say that the vanilla birthday cake has a special place in my heart, because vanilla is my favourite flavour. I also love that the recipe doesn’t include a single drop of shortening — it’s all butter — yet still remains moist, thanks in part to the buttermilk, and is an easy-to-follow recipe.
“Plus, you can’t go wrong with a good vanilla frosting.”
Sam hopes readers who pick up her Sweet Bake Shop book find themselves motivated to do more than make cookies and cakes.
“I hope that readers are inspired to try my recipes, and know that practice really does make perfect,” she says. “I also hope that my story proves that you can quit your job and start over doing something that you love and really make something of it.
“Hard work and determination take you anywhere you want to go.”
I fell in love with baking not only because of the delicious treats, but because of the way it transforms people’s moods.