Sweet treats for Valentines shoppers at the Saturday Pastry Market includes Tinycakes

Valentine shoppers can complete their gift list on Saturday at the Pastry Market in the Logan Square Kitchen, 2333 N. Milwaukee Ave., 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Tinycakes and approximately ten other sweet treat vendors will be on hand to tempt the taste buds of all shoppers.

Tinycakes is a local entrepreneurial endeavor of Stephanie, a bookkeeper, and Tim Merello, a landscape architect.

Urged by friends to start selling the wonderful treats they enjoyed from Stephanie, she told her dad that she wanted to start a business and he advised, "start small." Hence Tinycakes was born in 2003 and experienced its first production in the kitchen of a restaurant that they rented after the restaurant's evening closings.

Stephanie checks a batch of cookies.

With the Wicker Park Farmers' Market as their first venue they also worked with a caterer. The Logan Square Farmers' Market was added to their schedule for three years and they began selling wholesale.

High flavor (dark chocolate, brown sugar and toasted nuts) is Stephanie's preference. "No wimpy pastries here," she explains. Specializing in individual desserts, their offerings include cookies, brownies, cupcakes and biscotti. They also offer two no dairy, no egg vegan cookies, a double chocolate hazelnut and dark chocolate oatmeal.

As a counterpoint to the chocolate is the lemon Madeleine which is Tim's specialty. "Patience is a key factor in making them and Tim is much better at that than I," explains Stephanie. Divulging one of their baking secrets, Tim explains, "It is the butter that gives the crispy coating."

Tim mixes ingredients for his famous Madeleine cookies.

Though she originally thought that a pastry shop would be their next step, they now believe that their duo businesses are the right choices for them at this point. One of the first renters of the Logan Square Kitchen facilities, Stephanie explains, "The kitchen takes the risk and build out and we can concentrate on what we do best, baking and marketing. We have no employees so we are limited to production but we have other jobs to help us right now."

Other vendors in the Pastry market include: B True Bakery, GIG Catering, Floriole Bakery, Flour Cake & Pastry, Katherine Anne Confections, Macaron Chicago, Nice Cream, Rare Bird Preserves, Rich Chocolates & Candies and Sugarkist.

Note: Be sure to stop and see them and tell them you read their story.