Two Twenty Two Pastry founder Allie Blackburn used the pandemic as an opportunity to start the vegan pastry business she always dreamed of creating.
And although it may sound daunting, making vegan pastries is not as complicated as it may seem, Blackburn said.
“I use vegan butter, which you can find in a lot of grocery stores. I use soy milk in all of my cakes, and if the customers are soy-free, I use rice milk,” she said. “I use all-vegan sugars. I think a lot of people don’t realize that refined white sugar isn’t vegan.”
Like other new small business owners, the pandemic led to the launch of Two Twenty Two Pastry.
“The week before the pandemic, I was hired at Neon Tiger as their pastry chef. When the pandemic happened, it all kind of fell through, but it pushed me to pursue my own business,” Blackburn said.
The studied pastry chef spent the unexpected time off developing the recipes for her vegan pastries and had her first pop-up in September 2020.
Blackburn started her culinary journey back in high school when she was involved in culinary trade school. After high school, she attended Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she pursued a degree in baking and pastry. When she graduated, she worked in restaurants in Rhode Island before moving to Austin, Texas.
“I worked at an all-vegan bakery in Austin called Capital City Bakery, and I learned a lot there,” she said. Blackburn has been vegan for seven years and has been creating vegan baked goods for about five years.
In place of eggs, she uses flax meal mixed with water. Another key ingredient to help the pastries rise is apple cider vinegar, she said.
“Mixing my milks with apple cider vinegar basically makes it a buttermilk, which reacts with the baking soda to help the cake rise,” she said.
Two Twenty Two’s most popular item is its brunch pastry boxes — each box comes with three different vegan pastries for $22.
“I like to do cinnamon rolls, Pop-Tarts and the third item is up in the air. I recently made coffee cake and that turned out really well,” she said. “I like to take normal brunch pastries and make them elevated and fun.”
One of her best-selling items is her cinnamon rolls, which are kicked up a notch with unique flavors such as matcha strawberry or carrot cake.
Blackburn will also bake vegan cakes upon request that are great for special occasions. Customers have their choice between a six- or eight-inch round, and she even offers a gluten-free version of her cakes.
“The cakes are based on seasonal flavors, like right now I have raspberry, a birthday cake that’s all chocolate and a lemon blueberry one,” she said.
According to Blackburn, she relies on pre-ordering for the pastry boxes. “I have found that doing pre-orders really helps me with my inventory, and it’s best for my business, especially because I’m selling multiple items in a box it’s just easier to have the numbers down,” she said.
One of her favorite reactions when people try her pastries is when they can’t tell that they are vegan. “It’s getting better, but vegan pastries can get a bad wrap for not being good,” she said. “I’m trying to get people excited about it.”
Two Twenty Two vegan pastry boxes are available to pre-order for pick-up from 12-2 p.m. Saturdays at 709 Coleman Blvd. Follow @twotwentytwopastry on Instagram for updates.
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