Cure your sweet tooth

By JUDI BOWERS
Reporter
Big Bear Grizzly

Published: Wednesday, October 7, 2009 9:06 AM PDT

Anyone who has ever tasted one of Trish Gordon’s creations has had their palate tempted and left wanting more. The wait is over. Gordon’s Sugar Pine Bake Shop opens Friday, Oct. 9.

Delectable delicacies are Gordon’s specialty in her new home. She and her husband, Jim, are the former owners of Gold Mountain Manor bed and breakfast. They headed east for a while but returned to Big Bear four years ago. Trish has been creating unique and surprising cakes from her home but finally decided to heed the call of brick and mortar.

“It’s my time,” Trish says. She was inspired by the Julia Child story that one can start a new career at anytime. And while food preparation of some kind has been a part of Trish’s career for some time, cakes are now her specialty.

Trish’s creations are in the style of “Ace of Cakes,” a reality TV show that airs on the Food Network. But Trish’s cakes are all Trish—and the consumer. Her designs are unique to the occasion. If you need a cake for your daughter’s Sweet 16 birthday party, Trish designs the perfect confection. If your husband is celebrating a job promotion, retirement or midlife crisis, Trish can capture that in butter, flour and icing.

Cakes are personal but very whimsical, Trish says. “This is my artistic medium,” she said. Trish loves textures, fabrics and colors and incorporates them all into her cakes. “I love anything shiny,” Trish says, adding that she sprinkles luster dust onto her creations whenever possible.

Fondant is what makes Trish Gordon’s cakes different from the store-bought or  homemade variety cakes. Fondant is a rollable icing popular in Australia and England. “It allows you to spend a long time decorating,” Trish says.

Trish has standard designs as well, so don’t feel like you need a special occasion to enjoy a Sugar Pine Bake Shop delight. She creates snowman cakes perfect to mark the onset of winter, pumpkins, cars and more. Topsy-turvy cakes are a specialty, she says. They are a really distinctive way to celebrate, she adds.

In addition to the innovative design on the outside are the scrumptious ingredients on the inside the Sugar Pine Bake Shop cakes. Cake flavors can be customized to your tastes, Trish says. One of her favorites is the chocolate with bananas foster filling and cream cheese icing. It’s a creation that isn’t too sweet for a delicious dessert, Trish says.

Sugar Pine Bake Shop’s cases aren’t filled with just cakes. Trish says she plans to use the commercial size kitchen to bake to her heart’s content. Sugar Pine offers cookies and cookie baskets, breads, muffins and to-die-for cinnamon buns. “I’m a hiker and Jim’s a runner, so I created a wonderful granola bar,” Trish says. It’s cherry almond dipped in chocolate.

On those hikes and runs, Jack and Jill accompany the Gordons. Jack is a Golden Retriever and Jill is a mixed breed. They are the tasters for Sugar Pine Bake Shop’s puppy cupcakes, dog biscuits and dog biscotti.

Trish says she is enjoying baking breads and the bakery features a rustic rye, parmesan, focaccia, a light wheat and a brioche that is great for making french toast.

If you want something over-the-top sweet, try the stuffed brownies. They are a dentist’s dream or nightmare—dark chocolate and semi sweet chips filled with crunchy peanut butter cream drizzled with chocolate ganache and salted nuts—sure to cause cavities if you don’t brush immediately after eating.

Sugar Pine Bake Shop has an old-fashioned French bakery feel inside, which Trish designed. She says the idea has been living in her heart and mind for a long time. She has coffee brewing, but the bakery is strictly a to-go operation. The cases are full on weekends, and midweek are specialty hours.

The bakery is open Friday and Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday are Trish’s cake studio hours when the doors are open, but no retail sales are offered. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The bakery is closed Monday and Tuesday except by appointment for special orders.

Sugar Pine Bake Shop is at 40191 Big Bear Blvd., Big Bear Lake. For more information, call 909-866-2300 or visit www.sugarpinebakeshop.com.