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Hello, Uptown!
Who said Halloween sweets have to be limited to the assortment of Nerds, Twix and Almond Joys you find in orange drugstore variety bags?
Certainly not the Spooky Bake Club.
On Halloween, Kairoa Brewery in University Heights is hosting a Halloween bake sale featuring 12 local bakers. Some folks to look out for are Matcha y Miel, which is bringing pie to the party; The Clovery, which is bringing an ube cinnamon roll and Pukshiet, which will have red velvet bibingka (Filipino rice cake).
The event was organized by Kairoa and none other than Kelly Kim, owner of Mon Chourie, a bakery that just began calling the University Heights brewery home. I chatted with Kim, and she said they’ve been looking for a location to set up shop for about a year before they decided to post up at one of the brewery’s service windows.
University Heights has welcomed the mini bakery of Korean-style cream puffs and salt bread with open arms. Kim said they’re selling out almost every day. On weekends, she says, they’re out of stock within two hours.
Kim’s salt bread is something she brought back to San Diego after a trip to Korea last year. She said it’s quickly become a hit, as there aren’t many places you can find the pastry. But Mon Chourie started with cream puffs.
Born and raised in Seoul, Kim came to the U.S. for art school in New York City and moved to San Diego in 2015. Baking came from her mother. She got the idea for Mon Chourie from her mother’s own cream puff business in Korea. Kim noticed there weren’t many places to get good cream puffs in San Diego, so she decided to carry on the legacy of her mother’s venture, infusing her creations with flavors from her childhood in Korea.
At Saturday’s bake sale you won’t find their typical menu items. They’ll have Halloween mini cream puffs and a cinnamon pecan and black sesame salt bread. Woah.
You can head by the bake sale anytime from noon to 4 p.m. But if you are dying to try one of these special flavors, you should probably arrive on the earlier side.
If you happen to stop by Mon Chourie’s window on some regular day in the near future, they’ll have their typical menu items which includes cream puffs that come in egg sando, choconana and apple pie flavors, to name a few. Their salt breads range from pretzel to potato cheddar, and not to mention a weekly special. And, the bakery also supplies Korea’s viral butter tteoks in black sesame, chocolate and red bean flavors.
Have decision paralysis? I asked Kim if she could pick one favorite item off of the menu, what would it be (Yes, I know, a cruel and unusual question)? She gave me two answers: The Dubai Chocolate flavored cream puff and the pecan cinnamon salt bread.
Tessa Balc
Uptown News newsletter host
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