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Local Bounty: August 15

Jennywennycakes

By education and training, Jenny Williams is a medicinal chemist. She arrived in San Diego from her native Birmingham, England over 10 years ago to work for Novartis. But, the baker in her just had to escape. She quit her job, launched Jennywennycakes, and as she puts it, “has been doing cakes properly for three-and-a-half years.”

Jenny has, in fact, been baking most of her life and is working on her culinary certificate from Grossmont College. She takes advantage of local producers, including buying her eggs from Schaner Farms in Valley Center. She’s become known around town for her custom cakes—created for weddings and other special occasions. But now, you can also find her at the Mira Mesa farmers market at Mira Mesa High School on Tuesday afternoons. When I showed up to see what she had for sale, the table was overflowing with exquisite cupcakes, cookies (including vegan), trifle, and French macarons. There’s a lot to choose from, but here’s a sample:

Cupcakes

Cupcakes are everywhere, but good ones are hard to find. I like these. Unlike so many I sample, the cake itself is wonderfully moist (maybe it’s those Schaner eggs). Currently, there are five varieties of cupcakes for sale—they change with the seasons. There’s a Mango with lemon filling and vanilla, Chocolate with caramel swirl, Vanilla with vanilla or chocolate frosting, Banana Chocolate Chip with peanut butter frosting, and the one I’m urging you most to go out and buy in August: the Hummingbird, a tasty combo of pineapple, banana, pecan, and coconut with a cream cheese frosting. Jenny will donate $3 every time a customer buys a dozen of this variety or an eight-inch cake—or a dollar for purchases of three Hummingbird cupcakes—to the San Diego Food Bank’s Food 4 Kids Backpack Program this month. $2.75 each

Macarons

I’m a sucker for these complex little French cookies. These meringues are so delicate and yet, when made well, they has a nice little crunch to each bite, followed by chewy creaminess of both the egg whites and the thin layer of filling. Jenny does these well. Jenny has two varieties at the market right now—cinnamon with dulce de leche as the filling and strawberry with a chocolate ganache. Perfect with a cup of tea. $3 for a package of three

Trifle

Well, this was a new one for me. I don’t believe I’ve seen trifle sold at a farmers market. At least not in San Diego. But Jenny likes to put her British stamp on at least one item and this is it—plus it’s a great use of leftover cake bits. She has two varieties: strawberries and cream and chocolate and dark cherry. Guess which one I chose… The chocolate cake is a dense and rich chocolate mud cake and the trifle is studded with chunks of tart cherries. Pure decadence. $2.75 each

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