Knead something sweet?
Ventura baking company debuts at the Ojai
By D.K. Crawford 11/15/2007
If you’ve never experienced the Ojai Farmers’ Market, now is the time to go. There are ripe persimmons, feathery, otherworldly protea and fresh Peking duck available for the holidays. Alongside such seasonal delights comes the premiere of a new baking company.
The Iron Mountain Boys played a toe-tapping bluegrass ditty as I circled the farmers’ market, looking for the new booth in town — Knead Baking Company. I found it tucked next to the cheese vendor wearing his wedge-shaped cheese hat. There they were, the mother/daughter baking duo smiling with the excitement of a new venture.
The Knead Baking Company has no retail store. They take special orders by phone and just started Nov. 10 to feature their goods at the Ojai Farmers’ Market. There were savory and sweet scones, pumpkin spice bars, individually sized cakes and tarts, biscotti, walnut chocolate bars and ginger cookies. Each item or bag of items was $5 except for the large round flats of artisan bread that were $10.
I showed up at my sister’s cottage with five treats. We made tea, invited over her neighbor and began our research. We started with the savory rosemary parmesan biscotti. It was not tooth-breaking biscotti, but more resembled crumbly shortcake and had a slightly crunchy feature probably due to ground organic walnuts. There was a sprig of fresh rosemary in the package that perfumed the biscotti.
“This is seasoned very subtly but is very rich from the cream and olive oil,” my sister Lys said. Dana, her neighbor, thought soup would be delicious with the biscotti but wasn’t crazy about it on its own. They were a similar idea to cheese straws; some like them plain, others do not.
Next we tried the savory scone with gruyere, bacon and thyme. It came in a puffed up wedge, flecked with herbs and a sprig of fresh thyme snaked down the center. It was gung ho and packed with flavor that made all three of us exclaim, “Wow!” The first hit is the sharp gruyere followed by the hint of bacon and thyme. It was croque monsieur meets pastry.
“It reminds me of the way a buttery croissant melts in your mouth,” Lys said.
We moved on to the rustic tart featuring golden delicious and granny smith apples, frangipane (almond paste), butter, cinnamon and a touch of rum.
“This is well crafted,” Dana said. The outside of the tart, was crunchy and the inside moist. The apples were both sweet and tart and the almond paste in the bottom combined with the tart apple flavor to become almost lemony. This tart was, to the three of us, a work of art.
Then we sampled ginger cookie sandwiches with a chocolate ganache center. The chocolate was a nice complement to the ginger, but we all thought the balance was off. We preferred one cookie to the ratio of ganache offered because otherwise, the chocolate got lost. We discovered that dipping the cookies in tea enlivened them.
“The tea warms the ginger,” Lys said.
Finally we tried the peach jam cake made from peaches picked in upper Ojai. The cake was very moist and there was a “crumble” on top that resembled a substantial oatmeal cookie. I love jam. Especially slightly tart, not overly sweet jam, and this had just the balance.
Two of us rated the rustic tart as the favorite, closely followed by the savory scone. The Knead Baking Company’s style is earthy and simple, and their textures are enhanced by insightful use of nuts and grains. The owner, Bobbi Corbin, formerly of Savory Café in Ventura, and her daughter, Rachel, feature local ingredients and use the inherent nature of the nut, fruit, flower or vegetable to conceptualize then craft each pastry. They aren’t inexpensive, but one small cake or tart can easily serve two and differs from pastries you’ll find in a store. I look forward to trying their artisan breads.
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