Local bakers Rachel Deehan, featured in the photo, and Rebecca Kameika started Costa Brava, Bakery and Pâtisserie this summer. The online-based business sells Deehan’s French confections and Spanish pastries from Kameika’s childhood.
Costa Brava
In August, baking enthusiasts Rebecca Kameika and Rachel Deehan launched Costa Brava, Bakery and Pâtisserie. Costa Brava, a region on the northeastern coast of Spain, was the perfect name for the bakery for several reasons, they said.
“Rachel likes to work with those finicky French pastries. My relatives came here from Spain, through Cuba, so I do the Spanish desserts,” Kameika said. “‘Costa brava’ also means rough coast, which ties it back to Haines. We are a rugged, wild coast.”
Kameika and Deehan are both avid bakers who exchanged recipes regularly, prior to starting their own business.
“We were looking for a creative outlet,” Deehan said, adding, “Rebecca really pushed to make this happen.”
The two have complementary backgrounds.
“Rachel’s the better baker,” said Kameika, who has a master of business administration. Costa Brava’s website features Deehan’s photos of the luscious desserts the two women bake.
At present, bakery sales are largely based online. During the summer, Costa Brava had a stand at the farmers’ market, but they’ve had to pivot their business since the market ended, Kameika said.
Until now, Kameika and Deehan have been testing and tweaking recipes in their own personal kitchens. Beginning Sunday, they will begin baking in a rented apartment.
Kameika said the ultimate goal is to have a brick-and-mortar store in town as well as a portable store they can set up at events like the Southeast Alaska State Fair. She said they also hope to sell wholesale to local businesses and expand their online sales to other towns in the region.
“We offer products that are pretty unique for the area,” Deehan said, listing flan and macarons. Other offerings on the website include truffles, pastelitos and cupcakes. Costa Brava also takes custom orders.
Orders can be placed through the website, https://www.costabravaalaska.com/, or by calling 404-395-5057.
R&R Bake Shop
When Rachel Bifelt Rowley moved from Skagway to Haines this year, she brought her custom cake business, R&R Bake Shop, with her. The two R’s stand for Rachel and Raina.
“I started it a few years ago after I had my first child, Raina,” Bifelt Rowley said. “I was staying home with her, and I wanted to do something for myself and to help out with finances, so I decided to do something I’ve always loved.”
R&R Bake Shop offers cakes, cupcakes and mini cupcakes in dozens of flavors including funfetti, lemon, Mexican chocolate, red velvet, marble chocolate vanilla and seasonal flavors.
Bifelt Rowley, a self-taught baker, said she loves the creative aspect of the business.
“I especially like doing the cakes because it really allows me to be creative, to do things you wouldn’t normally see. I made a butterfly cake and a unicorn cake the other day-the creativity is endless,” Bifelt Rowley said.
She said sales in Haines have been better than expected so far.
“I was not expecting, when I started advertising in September, that I would get so many orders right off the bat,” she said. She started the business while living in Fairbanks and said the demand in Haines is closer to what she had in Fairbanks than Skagway.
R&R Bake Shop orders can be placed through its Facebook page, or by email, [email protected] or phone, 750-0144. Cupcakes are $25 for a dozen or $15 for a half dozen. Mini cupcakes are $20 for two dozen. Cakes vary in price, depending on the size and the complexity of the design.