inthekitchen
Noticing that bakeshops have barely
explored North America’s infatuation
with Asian fusion, Phingky is breaking
away from other pâtisseries by infusing
her home country’s savoury f lavours
into tarts, cookies and cakes. She has
discovered that earthy-sweet Ube, or
purple yam, lends vibrant violet colour,
and other bold ingredients culled from
Thai cuisine, like miso, chiles and durian,
can make a dessert pop.
In fact, over the last few years she has
been working to identify which fl avours
go better with dark chocolate or milk
chocolate, and what kind of pastry best
showcases the ingredients. While some
ideas, like incorporating tapioca balls
into a bubble tea macaron, do not work
out so well, other combinations lead to
in the spur of the moment purchased the
little bakeshop. Over the next year, she
learned the ins and outs of managing a
business while continuing under the
existing brand, baking cupcakes.
Throughout the first year of running
the company, Phingky began to develop
a vision for the future. “It was time to
change, time to expand, time to go outside
of our box,” she says, “a little bit out of
everybody’s box.” In 2014, she rebranded
to Pinky’s Bakeshop, expanded the menu
to include a more diverse offering of cakes,
cookies, slices and macarons, and started
her fl avour experiments.
W hi le wa nt ing to share her tom
yum tarts and durian macarons with
customers, she feels limited by t he
space, which she has not changed since
I feel like it’s good to branch out from your normal.
Instead of lemon, why not use lemongrass?
something quite delicious.
Inspired by the sweet-sour and spicy
profi le of tom yum soup, Phingky pairs
lemongrass and Thai chile with dark
chocolate to create the tom yum tart
featured on these pages. “I feel like it’s
good to branch out from your normal,”
she comments. “Instead of lemon, why not
use lemongrass?” She is looking to other
world cuisines too, blending the middle-
eastern tastes of tahini into cookies,
tropical passion fruit into cream puffs and
pairing spicy habanero chocolate sauce
with the beloved deep-fried churro.
When she entered the Baking and
Pâtisserie Program at Red River College
10 years ago, Phingky had never imagined
she would one day be the owner of
a trend-setting bakery. “I was actually
going to go work on a cruise ship,” she
laughs, “but then I met my husband.”
She eventually settled down in the city,
working at Lilac Bakery.
Then, in 2013, the ow ner of The
Cupcake Corner decided to sell the
business. Phingky was a close friend and
14
ciao! / apr/may / two thousand nineteen
taking over the corner. Stirred creatively
by boutique bakeries in other major
Canadian cities like Vancouver and
Toronto, she believes a new contemporary
makeover is just what’s needed to spur on
the different style of baking. “I feel like the
reno is a rebranding,” Phingky tells us as
we sneak a peek at the designs. “It will help
people jump into the style of baking we
want to do.”
The cute wa inscoted white wa l ls
accented by colourful cupcakes will soon
be replaced by modern teal and white
tiles, and the new Pinky’s will emerge.
Alongside a selection of spicy tarts and
tropical chocolate choux, she will also be
adding a coffee menu, quick breads and
an ice cream machine to help expand the
offering of macaron ice cream sandwiches
upon reopening at the start of May.
A competitive market can be tough on
a small business, but it can also nurture
innovation. Discovering her voice as a
Thai baker, Phingky is confi dently setting
forward to showcase her world-infused
menu in a contemporary-style space.