222 Pastry - Dessert Boxes Designed For Sharing
By Samantha Paternoster
It’s All In The Details At 222 Pastry | Baking Lowcountry Local
Grateful For Her Community
Looking Forward
222 Pastry - Dessert Boxes Designed For Sharing
By Samantha Paternoster
It’s All In The Details At 222 Pastry | Baking Lowcountry Local
Grateful For Her Community
Looking Forward
222 Pastry’s curated dessert boxes are designed for sharing. One of Charleston’s latest pop-ups, their twist on traditional baked goods can be found at local brewery events.
“I love the idea of people bringing boxes [of baked goods] to share at a dinner party, picnics, or even a little gift to someone,” says Allie Blackburn, owner of 222 Pastry.
It’s All In The Details At 222 Pastry
A trained pastry chef of 8 years from Johnson and Wales University, Allie matches three pairs of pastries for each box.
“I try to balance flavors - one chocolate, one more seasonal and one that brings it all together,” explains Allie. “Even the sizing, down to how it’s cut and the presentation - everything is deliberate. I want everything to look really good and taste really good at the same time.”
If you follow 222 Pastry on Instagram, you’ll see what she means. The Thankful Box, curated for this Thanksgiving season, captures every flavor you’d associate with fall - with some unique twists.
- Two pumpkin pie bars topped with buttercream dollops, garnished with fresh cranberry slices and micro greens.
- Two fudge brownies complimented with a gooey pecan pie topping.
- Two apple cider doughnuts coated in cinnamon sugar, to bring the box together.
There’s a reason everything is set in pairs. Known as an angel number, 222 has appeared throughout Allie’s life. It serves as a guide and reminder that you are exactly where you need to be.
For 222 Pastry, sharing a sweet treat with friends and family is the perfect place to be.
222 Pastry’s curated dessert boxes are designed for sharing. One of Charleston’s latest pop-ups, their twist on traditional baked goods can be found at local brewery events.
“I love the idea of people bringing boxes [of baked goods] to share at a dinner party, picnics, or even a little gift to someone,” says Allie Blackburn, owner of 222 Pastry.
It’s All In The Details At 222 Pastry
A trained pastry chef of 8 years from Johnson and Wales University, Allie matches three pairs of pastries for each box.
“I try to balance flavors - one chocolate, one more seasonal and one that brings it all together,” explains Allie. “Even the sizing, down to how it’s cut and the presentation - everything is deliberate. I want everything to look really good and taste really good at the same time.”
If you follow 222 Pastry on Instagram, you’ll see what she means. The Thankful Box, curated for this Thanksgiving season, captures every flavor you’d associate with fall - with some unique twists.
- Two pumpkin pie bars topped with buttercream dollops, garnished with fresh cranberry slices and micro greens.
- Two fudge brownies complimented with a gooey pecan pie topping.
- Two apple cider doughnuts coated in cinnamon sugar, to bring the box together.
There’s a reason everything is set in pairs. Known as an angel number, 222 has appeared throughout Allie’s life. It serves as a guide and reminder that you are exactly where you need to be.
For 222 Pastry, sharing a sweet treat with friends and family is the perfect place to be.
Baking Lowcountry Local
As she creates new menu items for 222 Pastry, Allie focuses on seasonal flavors and produce.
“I love using seasonal and local ingredients, especially buying from farm stands for fresh ingredients,” says Allie. “I love doing more relatable recipes like donuts and cookies.”
Having previously been the pastry chef at Gnome Cafe, and a vegan herself, she focuses on allergy-friendly ingredients. “I love taking non-vegan recipes and making them vegan,” says Allie. “I didn’t want to make it [222 Pastry] too vegan forward, so everyone would try it.”
“When people don’t realize it’s [the pastries] are vegan and love it - that’s the greatest compliment to me.”
She quickly clarifies that despite what you might think, vegan does not necessarily mean gluten free. As 222 Pastry continues to grow, Allie has plans to create new boxes like this month’s Thankful Box, that will be both gluten free and vegan.
“I myself am not gluten free, but if I can make it taste great and cater to a bigger audience that’s what I’m looking to do,” says Allie. “I know what it’s like to struggle to find specialty items.”
Each new recipe is an intuitive process. “I’ve applied everything I know about non-vegan baking to researching and baking vegan goods,” says Allie.
“There’s been a lot of trial and error. Over the past two years I’ve been working towards starting 222 Pastry, so I’ve learned what egg replacements work with which recipes. For cookies and cakes, it’s a different egg replacer,” she explains.
“I use rice milk or soy milk in all of my desserts. I don’t want to use any nut based milks because of common allergies.”
With each new recipe, Allie looks to highlight the individual flavors. “I would say the line is after three different flavor combinations. [After that] it becomes a little muddled and you can’t taste the differences of each flavor.”
Baking Lowcountry Local
As she creates new menu items for 222 Pastry, Allie focuses on seasonal flavors and produce.
“I love using seasonal and local ingredients, especially buying from farm stands for fresh ingredients,” says Allie. “I love doing more relatable recipes like donuts and cookies.”
Having previously been the pastry chef at Gnome Cafe, and a vegan herself, she focuses on allergy-friendly ingredients. “I love taking non-vegan recipes and making them vegan,” says Allie. “I didn’t want to make it [222 Pastry] too vegan forward, so everyone would try it.”
“When people don’t realize it’s [the pastries] are vegan and love it - that’s the greatest compliment to me.”
She quickly clarifies that despite what you might think, vegan does not necessarily mean gluten free. As 222 Pastry continues to grow, Allie has plans to create new boxes like this month’s Thankful Box, that will be both gluten free and vegan.
“I myself am not gluten free, but if I can make it taste great and cater to a bigger audience that’s what I’m looking to do,” says Allie. “I know what it’s like to struggle to find specialty items.”
Each new recipe is an intuitive process. “I’ve applied everything I know about non-vegan baking to researching and baking vegan goods,” says Allie.
“There’s been a lot of trial and error. Over the past two years I’ve been working towards starting 222 Pastry, so I’ve learned what egg replacements work with which recipes. For cookies and cakes, it’s a different egg replacer,” she explains.
“I use rice milk or soy milk in all of my desserts. I don’t want to use any nut based milks because of common allergies.”
With each new recipe, Allie looks to highlight the individual flavors. “I would say the line is after three different flavor combinations. [After that] it becomes a little muddled and you can’t taste the differences of each flavor.”
Grateful For Her Community
As her following continues to grow, Allie has started a GoFundMe page in the hopes of moving to a larger kitchen space.
“That is definitely a goal of 2021, to gain a rented kitchen space,” says Allie, who currently runs 222 Pastry out of her apartment. “I really need to expand my kitchen space before I can offer more, which will come in time. I want to offer more for Thanksgiving but at the moment I don’t have the space for all of the pies I’d like to bake.”
Prior to each pop-up event she spends one full day prepping followed by about 13 to 14 hours of baking and packaging. “The pop-ups make it all worth it,” she says.
“When people tell me ‘oh we’ve traveled so far, we came here just to meet you and get one of your pastry boxes’, or ‘I saw you online.’ That’s my favorite part. When people come to the pop-up just to buy one of the boxes,” says Allie. “It’s the greatest feeling ever when people tell me that.”
You can donate to her GoFundMe here.
Grateful For Her Community
As her following continues to grow, Allie has started a GoFundMe page in the hopes of moving to a larger kitchen space.
“That is definitely a goal of 2021, to gain a rented kitchen space,” says Allie, who currently runs 222 Pastry out of her apartment. “I really need to expand my kitchen space before I can offer more, which will come in time. I want to offer more for Thanksgiving but at the moment I don’t have the space for all of the pies I’d like to bake.”
Prior to each pop-up event she spends one full day prepping followed by about 13 to 14 hours of baking and packaging. “The pop-ups make it all worth it,” she says.
“When people tell me ‘oh we’ve traveled so far, we came here just to meet you and get one of your pastry boxes’, or ‘I saw you online.’ That’s my favorite part. When people come to the pop-up just to buy one of the boxes,” says Allie. “It’s the greatest feeling ever when people tell me that.”
You can donate to her GoFundMe here.
Looking Forward
As Allie works towards a larger kitchen space, she also has some ideas to make vegan baking more accessible.
“I want to start doing online zoom classes to teach people about vegan baking as well,” says Allie.
“For the future, I would love to create a cookbook with all of my recipes and share them with everyone. I want to teach people how to create it themselves.”
Once she secures a larger kitchen space, you may even see 222 Pastry at special events. “I would love to provide more vegan/gluten free cakes for events - birthdays, wedding cakes,” says Allie.
One thing is for sure - you’ll definitely be seeing more of 222 Pastry around Charleston. Follow them on Instagram for their latest event schedule and pastry assortments: @twotwentytwopastry
Looking Forward
As Allie works towards a larger kitchen space, she also has some ideas to make vegan baking more accessible.
“I want to start doing online zoom classes to teach people about vegan baking as well,” says Allie.
“For the future, I would love to create a cookbook with all of my recipes and share them with everyone. I want to teach people how to create it themselves.”
Once she secures a larger kitchen space, you may even see 222 Pastry at special events. “I would love to provide more vegan/gluten free cakes for events - birthdays, wedding cakes,” says Allie.
One thing is for sure - you’ll definitely be seeing more of 222 Pastry around Charleston. Follow them on Instagram for their latest event schedule and pastry assortments: @twotwentytwopastry
**This article was originally published on November 24th, 2020 with Let's Talk Charleston. To view the original article click the button below.
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