waysideviolet - cozy, lovely things

Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without all the wonderful treats that this time of year brings. But if you’re stressed for time, you might be tempted to go with store-bought cookies and cakes. This year, instead of purchasing from a store you might want to consider placing a few orders with Whimsy & Spice:

Q. Could you tell us a little about yourselves?
Mark and I have a little confectionery business based in Brooklyn that we started last year called Whimsy & Spice. He is a pastry chef and single-handedly does all the baking for the company. I design the packaging, the website and take all the product shots. The business is a good combination of our skills. 

Q. How did you begin baking such lovely things?
Mark has been in the restaurant industry for about 15 years, many of those years as pastry chef. We decided to start our own business so that he can escape crazy restaurant hours, but as it turns out as we come towards the end of our 2nd year of business, he is again working crazy hours. But at least there is some flexibility built in which is key when you have kids. The products are a combination of new recipes and ideas and some variation of old favorites.

Q. Your shop looks delicious! What is your creative process like?

Mark and I come up with product ideas together. Sometimes he looks back to interesting flavor combinations that he’s used in a dessert. There is a lot of testing and tweaking. Sometimes you get the cookie right in a few tries, but other times it never comes together quite the way you imagine so the idea is abandoned. Or other times the flavor is good, but the texture is not. It really is a matter of trial and error. 

Q. What’s a normal day in your life like?
Our “normal” day is anything but normal. Every day varies depending on what orders we have to fill or what client design deadlines I have (I work as a freelance designer). The only constant is our older daughter’s school drop off and pick up so we schedule our day around that. But on most days, Mark will head into the kitchen where he does his baking during the day, and most evenings involve packing up orders to ship out the next day. 

Q. What inspires you most of all?
I would say other artists and small independent food purveyors and producers. It’s just cool to see what other like-minded people are doing. It inspires you and keeps you going when things get tough. It’s also great to see that the indie movement, whether craft, art, food, whatever, is thriving so well in this economy.

Tags: etsy interview, pretty treats, whimsy & spice