SweetView: Boho Buttercream Desserts! Desserts! Desserts!
By Brandilyn Mitchell
I was first introduced to Boho Buttercream via their vegan donuts on a Friday morning at Culture Coffee Bar. I was skeptical, but tried one of each flavor: Strawberry and Chocolate. I’m not vegan myself, but there are several vegans in my social bubble, so I thought I would do some research for them. The donuts were so delectable! The strawberry once was so heavenly, just like eating a strawberry off the vine. Since I had never heard of Boho before and also never heard of a vegan donut available in the area, I assumed Boho must’ve been delivered from the Sacramento area or maybe even from the East Bay, and never tried to find them locally. Big mistake on my part.
I was at the Dragonfly Tea Room recently (eating a macaron, no surprise there), and the owner Judy Robinson told me that her macarons are made by Boho Buttercream. I was shocked! Wait a minute! “The same Boho that makes vegan donuts?” I asked. “Oh yeah!” Judy said. “Chef Anya is here every Sunday to make her cakes and cookies and her yummy macarons!” Oh boy. You would think I was just told, “Two dozen puppies have just been delivered to your backyard!” because THAT is how happy I was! I ordered a dozen macarons via bohobuttercream.com the next day, for pick up the following Sunday. It was a box of half milk chocolate and half cookies & cream. I had intended them for the following Saturday to share with a friend over lunch, but I would be lying if I told you they made it that long. They didn’t. My husband and I consumed 7 of them that very night, and I put 5 in the freezer solely for my friend. I should’ve waited for my friend, but I think she will understand my self-control dilemma once she’s tried them herself! Delicate and crispy on the outside, moist and creamy on the inside. The perfect amount of frosting; each tiny morsel bursting with flavor. The cookies & cream was 100% without hesitation, the best macaron I have ever eaten. And I have eaten a lot of macarons in my life-a dozen or so right in the heart of Paris. These rival even the macarons I ate IN PARIS!
I was honored to meet owner Chef Anya Heidenberg while I picked up the cutest box of macarons from her. Chef Anya started baking as a child, who was a natural in the kitchen. Her first job was at Three Dog Bakery, a doggie bakery in Pasadena, ringing up customers. It wasn’t long before she was using her talents making yummy treats for furry friends like pupcakes and biscuits. Using this experience she moved to another bakery and was inadvertently thrown into making wedding cakes during a busy weekend. She was hooked. Baking and designing was filling her heart to overflowing; she loved it!
She went to college while baking and got a dual degree in American Sign Language and Graphic Arts. She left professional baking behind for a while to teach ASL. Life threw her a curveball, though. Her two year old daughter was diagnosed with cancer. The demanding job had to go to allow her to take care of her daughter. Baking slowly returned to her life, as a result of her posting beautiful birthday cakes and cupcakes she made for her family online and her friends ordering cakes just like them. The freedom baking gave her was just what she needed. Not only did it allow her time to spend with her family, it was giving her heart joy to be back at creating art. Joy she needed during a tumultuous chapter of her life. She began wondering if she could turn it into a business and meet several needs at once: a flexible schedule for appointments and much needed family time, income, intrinsic fulfillment, and lastly: providing the Central Valley with gluten-free and vegan treats of which there was a desperate need. Chef Anya-and many other Modestans-live with Celiac’s disease. And they deserve to treat themselves to yummy sweets the same as everyone else. But it was hard to do without baking everything at home yourself. Anya to the rescue! She got her start in Greens on Tenth, and has recently moved to Dragonfly Tea Room. Everything is made on separate GF & vegan equipment, and she offers quite an array of items to satiate any craving you might have.
She sees every cake is a blank canvas, to be made into gorgeous edible art. This is evident in even her smallest creation, her macarons. Each macaron was so tenderfly dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with garnish. Everything she makes is almost too gorgeous to eat. Take it from me, who has now eaten her donuts, macarons and an ooey-gooey snickerdoodle that found its way into my belly on Sunday, and I can attest that you won’t go back to traditional desserts. Those snickerdoodle cookies will convert you if nothing else. Just do it. Don’t look back.
And I would hate to leave you on a cliffhanger: her daughter is doing well these days, but this will be a life-long battle. So remember, every time you buy a dozen cookies, or a few loaves of bread, or a cake for your next party, you are helping a local family to be flexible with their time and support their kids. Everything she makes is tenderly done with love of her family, her art and her community. Appreciation is the icing and garnish, because none of this could happen if she didn’t have loyal customers.
You can get her treats at Dragonfly throughout the week, and her donuts are at Culture Coffee Bar on Fridays. For special orders like wedding cakes, set an appointment on the website. She offers a rotating monthly “favorites” menu, which is where you can order things like macarons, cookies, donuts, and breads. You can grab pre-made cookies on Sunday or you can also order dough to take home and bake at your leisure.
Chef Anya Heidenberg
Boho Buttercream
Bohobuttercream.com
bohobuttercream@gmail.com
Follow them on Facebook for updates on the menu and other special events
Dragonfly Tea Room
835 W. Roseburg Ave, Modesto
Follow them on Facebook for monthly themed tea offerings
Culture Coffee Bar
Mon – Sat 6am-4pm, Sundays 6am-2pm
2801 McHenry Ave Ste A, Modesto
Follow them on Instagram for updates on the storefront and for an exciting upcoming Boho partnership
