Oakland Bake Company sweetens community

Chloë Stoppler was going to school for a degree in nursing three years ago when she realized she didn’t possess the passion for the work. What did spark her interest was baking, as she remembered fondly spending many hours making sweet treats with her mother in the kitchen when she was younger.

The result of her decision to switch careers is Oakland Bake Company, a cottage industry bakery founded in her Oakland home officially in 2021. She is the owner, operator, baker, decorator and delivery driver for this one-woman business — but does have a supportive family when it comes time to orchestrate a pop-up shop, she said.

She continued baking with her mother through her school years, and when Stoppler was a student at West Orange High School, the two provided sweets to sell at her OARS rowing events.

She started baking again while still in nursing school, providing cookies for family members and close friends a few years before opening the shop. After making desserts for a birthday party, she had friends of friends calling to place orders. As her small business grew, she discovered this is where her passion lied. So, she jumped into it full time and now bakes cookies, cakes and cupcakes for a living.

Her recipes are her own — she starts with a recipe and then picks it apart, tweaking it and playing around with the ingredients until it’s exactly how she wants it. Her favorite cake recipe is a white velvet, made with buttermilk baked into the cake so it has a smoother texture. Other cake flavors include the classic chocolate and marble, plus premium flavors such as coconut cream, almond amaretto and zesty lemon. Alternative fillings can be ordered too.

Customers also can request cupcakes, mini cupcakes, dessert shooters and cake push pops.

Stoppler’s favorite orders are the hand-crafted sugar cookies with a wedding or baby shower theme. Because of their popularity, cookie orders are booked up to three months in advance.

She takes pride in the decorative details she gives each of her cookies.

“I’ve taken a lot of time to solidify my cookie recipe,” Stoppler said. “A lot of bakers, their cookies look good but they don’t taste that good; they’re cardboardy and dry. Mine is more of a shortbread-sugar cookie hybrid. The shortbread keeps it nice and formed, and the sugar cookie makes it nice and soft in the middle.”

Tuesdays are devoted to baking cookies and making the icing, and she starts creating the detailed designs on Wednesdays. On Thursdays, she sets up shop at the Oakland Farmers Market and sells holiday and seasonal baked goods. She has even won a Facebook award for best local bakery.

While other bakers tend to sell through a tiered pricing menu, Stoppler charges a flat rate — “Anything you want, no matter the detail,” she said.

She likes coordinating the baked goods to the event’s color schemes, so she pulls shades from invitations, napkins or other printed items.

“I never copy someone’s work, but I’ll use that as inspiration to make a set,” she said.

She’s looking forward to doing some baking for her son, Harrison, who is almost 2. He loves to be in the kitchen when she’s creating, and she’s hoping the parent-child tradition of baking together can be passed to the next generation.