From home baker to bakery owner, Fanny Lam pours creativity into desserts
The founder of Oh Sweet Day! sees Asian Heritage Month as a way to embrace her roots
Oh Sweet Day! founder Fanny Lam is particularly proud of her mini cheesecakes.
A SELF-TAUGHT chef, Fanny Lam went from home baking to blogging to writing a cookbook to launching Oh Sweet Day!, a bakeshop just off Commercial Drive. It had only been open a year when the pandemic hit. She has found that a little bit of baked goodness goes a long way when people are feeling isolated.
“I still remember how panicked I felt last March when I started to hear the word ‘lockdown’,” Lam tells Stir. “Because our kitchen is so tiny, my team wasn't really sure if was safe for them to come to work.”
Lam, who sold baked goods at local farmers’ markets before opening her bricks-and-mortar location, found ways to reschedule shifts and keep people working at safe distances upon the onset of COVID-19. Her online ordering system was already up and running, while the shop began offering home delivery, a service her husband took on.
“Thankfully, things went well,” Lam says. “I know a bit of sweet won’t solve anything happening now, but the hope is that people can look at our little bake shop for a tiny moment of solace. What we do here is to make something small but filled with love and deliciousness for people to share, connect and celebrate in isolation. I think that's what we need now.”
Fanny Lam.
Lam credits the shop’s community for helping it stay afloat, while also pointing to the influx of orders from international Instagram followers who want to gift a sweet treat to their Vancouver-based loved ones.
Although baking requires precision for perfect results, Lam sees herself more as an artist than a scientist.
“Science bores me,” she says. “My art is friendly, personal, and accessible, not lavish and distant. As much as I enjoy putting my creativity into my desserts, it’s also very important to me that I’m able to share it. I love to see people enjoy eating my desserts and understand what they are eating. That’s why I never use weird ingredients. My food is not complicated. It’s the creativity, attention, and love that we put in our products that make them special.”
The mompreneur is especially proud of her mini cheesecakes in flavours ranging from classic vanilla to matcha to black sesame. Shortbread tartlets run the gamut from lemon lavender to chocolate raspberry. Buttery Neapolitan cookies are naturally flavoured with strawberry, creamy vanilla, and rich chocolate. Then there are mousse cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, cookie sandwiches, and more.
Her five-inch cakes have proven especially popular during the pandemic: “The size is perfect for small gatherings and weddings,” Lam says. “Our desserts are known for their perfect sweetness and rich flavour, and that’s exactly how Asian people like to eat their sweets. I like to play with flavours and textures and incorporate creaminess and crunch in a dessert.”
Lam grew up in Hong Kong and moved to Canada as an adult. Asian Heritage Month holds special significance for her. “I would say my Asian roots are pretty deep,” Lam says. “But now that I have two kids who are born and raised here in Canada, I think it is important to pass down the many values and traditions I grew up with. At the end of the day, I want them to accept who they are and to carry their Asian Canadian identity with pride.
“Asian Heritage Month is a time to encourage my fellow Asians, no matter where you are, to take some time to celebrate our culture and background and to always embrace our identity and values,” she says. “I think it's pretty cool to be Asian-Canadian and be able to take the best out of both worlds and make it our own.”.
Celebration cakes are another Oh Sweet Day! specialty—not too sweet.
Related Articles
