The Sweet Taste of Success

To Our Readers: This is the second in our series on the Montgomery Village Farmers Market. Throughout summer, Patch will take a closer look at each of the market’s vendors—who they are, what inspires them—to trace the path from their hard work to your shopping bag. (The market is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday through Oct. 29 at Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, 9801 Centerway Road.)

Jamie Emery stands in the kitchen of her Montgomery Village townhouse Wednesday morning, the room filled with the aroma of sugar and butter as she prepares two trays of bubbling pecan bars for sale at Saturday's farmers market.

Emery, a Baltimore native who has worked as a pastry chef at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda for the past 18 months, spent most of her career as a medical receptionist but traded in the scrubs for an apron about three years ago. She and her husband Matt, a commercial pool manager, now run One Sweet Bite out of their Patton Ridge home.

“I’ve always loved baking and cooking and being in the kitchen,” said Emery, 29. “It happened so quickly. It was the thing that was missing in my life.”

Emery was inspired by a friend who wanted to go to culinary school, and she graduated from the yearlong pastry arts program at L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg in 2009. One Sweet Bite launched in May: Jamie does the cooking and Matt handles the permits, licensing, sales and packaging. He also does most of the heavy lifting—Jamie is pregnant with the couple’s first child, due in the fall.

“I love the creative aspect,” Jamie said. “I’m not someone looking to reinvent the wheel. It’s more about perfecting the things that people already love.”

The Montgomery Village farmers market, their first sales venue outside of the business’ website, is the ideal location for perfecting their wares, Emery said. They have a basic repertoire—mini-cupcakes, dessert bars and cake bonbons—but Emery experiments with different configurations and flavors. Customers have offered suggestions, like selling the cupcakes in smaller quantities, and buyers have been returning for more of their favorites over the weeks.

“It was kind of confirmation that we make a good product,” she said.

Emery would like to expand the business and perhaps open a small café for some day, she said, but for the market is the perfect place to start.

“Right now we’re happy. It’s simple with just a few products,” she said. “That’s what I enjoy right now, working with my hands and seeing the fruits of my labor.”

Ingredients

Cake

• 4oz Butter, room temperature
• 8oz Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• ½ t Vanilla
• 1 ½ t Baking Powder
• 6oz Cake Flour
• ¼ t Salt
• 4oz Milk, warm

Icing

• 4oz Butter, room temperature
• 1# Powdered Sugar
• 1t Vanilla
• 2-4T  Milk

 Sprinkles

White Chocolate Coins (for glazing)

Instructions

1. (For Cake): In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine cake flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Add dry ingredients and milk to the butter mixture, alternating until all ingredients are combined.
5. Grease and flour a 9" x 13" baking pan and fill the pan with cake batter.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 30-45 minutes, or until baked completely in the center. To test, insert a tooth pick in the cake; when it comes out clean, the cake is finished.
7. Once the cake is cool, scoop the cake into a large, clean mixing bowl and crumble with hands. Set aside.
8. (For the Icing): Place butter in a mixing bowl.
9. Add powdered sugar to butter a little at a time and mix until completely combined and smooth. Once the mixture starts to get thick, add milk a little bit at a time until you reach a creamy but still slightly firm consistency.
10. Add vanilla and mix until well combined.
11. (To Assemble the bonbons): Add icing and 80% of the sprinkles to cake crumbs. Mix well until it makes a soft, consistent mixture. With a small ice cream scoop or teaspoon, scoop the mixture onto a cookie sheet. Once all of the mixture is scooped, roll into balls. Place in the freezer until cold and firm. 
12. Place white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Melt chocolate in microwave at 30-second increments, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted.
13. Dip cake balls into chocolate and remove with a fork, one at a time. Place on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet and immediately sprinkle with sprinkles (if desired). Allow the chocolate to harden completely before removing from cookie sheet. You can speed up the process by placing in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

Yields approximately four dozen cake bonbons.