Family bakery offers a refreshing change

In a market bursting at the seams with dessert shops and in a time when cupcakes have their own reality television shows, the fact that Perfect Blend Bakery and Cafe in the Woodwind Shopping Center on Sawdust Road is a true family affair is a refreshing change.

Cassandra Kohl and her daughter, Shayna Kohl, opened Perfect Blend in March of 2012 looking to provide to Woodlands area customers the same delectable treats they had perfected for their families for years.

The cafe offers everything from cakes and pies to eclairs, bread, croissants and nearly everything in between, as well as lunch selections.

After graduating from Spring High School, Shayna Kohl enrolled in the world-renowned Johnson & Wales University culinary arts program in Denver, Colo.

"I actually wanted to go into culinary first, but decided to go into baking," Shayna said. "It's more precise, extremely more creative, and you get to do a wider variety of things. Everything matters on a dessert."

Cassandra Kohl also claims an impressive culinary background, having created large banquet dinners for events in Las Vegas and for the U.S. Navy in Florida.

One of the challenges facing the cafe, Cassandra and Shayna said, is its location. Being tucked away in the shopping center and not facing the heavily traveled Sawdust Road means less visibility to potential customers.

"The only problem we have is being seen," Cassandra said. "But once we get them in and they taste the food, they come back. We're doing a lot of different stuff a lot of bakeries don't do."

For example, Shayna Kohl said she and Perfect Blend's baker, Raquel Macedo, take recipes from customers to replicate their favorite desserts.

"We do a lot of speciality cakes," Shayna said. "Things people ask other bakeries to do, we can do. But we don't buy our icing, we make it. We don't buy our bread, we make it."

Shayna previously worked at a bakery in Spring, and she took what she learned there and combined her own abilities and ideas for Perfect Blend.

"I like having the ability to freely create instead of following someone else's ideas," she said. "I enjoy being able to do certain special things for people. You're not limited in what you can do by having your own place."

Sweet Treats

• Strawberry Eclipse Cake — White cake with strawberry jam filling, Italian buttercream topped with Belgian ganache $17.95 (6-inch)
• Turtle Fudge Cake — Devil's food cake filled with icing and rich chocolate fudge icing. Topped with pecan pieces and caramel and chocolate drizzle. $15.95 (6-inch)
• Cupcakes — Varieties include carrot, strawberry cream cheese, German chocolate, pumpkin and red velvet ($2.95 each)
• Pies — Flavors include pumpkin, sweet potato, pecan, cherry, blueberry, peach and chocolate. ($14.50–$17.99)
• Cake Dips — Cake balls dipped in white or semi-sweet chocolate icing. Flavors include eclipse, red velvet, carrot, strawberry cream cheese, chocolate raspberry, peanut butter, white cake and lemon cake. ($1.50 each/$1 each for 24 or more)

Summer Bake Camp

Each three-day session will be every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in June, July and August from 12:30–4 p.m. Classes are $55 each or $155 for all three. Class topics include:

• Cookie mixing and baking
• Gourmet dog treats and personal pizza making
• Cupcakes and cake balls

Perfect Blend Cafe, 329 Sawdust Road, The Woodlands, 281-203-5115, www.perfectblendbakerycafe.com

• Mon.–Fri.: 7 a.m.–5 p.m.
• Sat.: 7 a.m.–2 p.m.