B U S I N E S S
Sweet Success
Winter Fate Bakes specializes in handcrafted treats for people and their dogs By Kamala Kirk inter Morvant has enjoyed baking her entire life and would always give her creations away to others as gifts and for birthdays, but five years ago she finally decided to turn her hobby into a side business. “I baked my entire life and am self-taught,” Morvant said. “My partner, Geoff, and several of my close friends said, ‘You’re really good at this and you need to turn it into a business.’ I listened to them and here I am. Los Angeles has a lot of famous bake shops, but I feel that I do a good job at bringing Southern flair and hospitality to my baked goods with flavors and combinations that aren’t common out here.” Winter Fate Bakes offers an extensive menu of sweet treats including custom cakes, Southern desserts, cookies, vegan tarts and cheesecakes, among others. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Morvant also lived in New Orleans before moving to California just over seven years ago. Many of her baked goods are inspired by her Southern roots including her signature 7-Up Cake, which is served at Chef Keith Corbin’s LA restaurant, Alta Adams. “My most adored and beloved item on the menu is my 7-Up Cake, it’s what I’m known for,” Morvant said. “Typically, 7-Up Cake is made by adding 7-Up to a box of cake mix and calling it a day. I took something that’s known across the South and added my own twist by using top-quality, organic ingredients. It’s a bundt cake that comes in a beautiful circular shape and it’s very light, airy and moist. It’s absolutely delicious and is loved by many of my celebrity clients. I can also make a gluten-free or vegan version upon request.” Customers also love Morvant’s Cereal Milk Cupcakes, which feature toppings such as Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. “Cereal milk gives this really unique flavor to things,” Morvant said. “The milk has this rich depth of flavor and I’ll work it into buttercream frosting, cake or cookies.” One of Morvant’s favorite items is her Hummingbird Cake, another traditional Southern
PHOTO BY CHRIS MORTENSON
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Winter Fate Bakes offers a variety of unique and traditional Southern desserts including 7-Up Cake, Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes, Kitchen Sink Cookies and Mississippi Mud Pie, among others. treat. “It’s a spiced cake with fresh organic pineapple, banana and toasted pecans with a silky cream cheese buttercream,” Morvant said. “People flock to it like hummingbirds because it’s so sweet. It’s what I make for my birthday every year.” Delivery is available throughout Playa Vista, and Morvant also offers in-person pick-up for clients who live outside of the area. Many of her customers drive from as far away as
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Orange County to pick up her baked goods. “I also welcome people to ask me to make things that I don’t have on my menu,” Morvant said. “Even if I’ve never made something before, I love to challenge myself by trying new things in the kitchen.” While Morvant can accommodate a wide variety of requests and caters to certain dietary restrictions, the one thing she can’t accommodate is nut allergies.
“Whenever someone places an order, I always ask if they or anyone that will be eating the items have food allergies,” Morvant said. “Because I work with nuts in my kitchen, I’m probably not the baker for someone if they or someone in their family has a nut allergy. I want to make sure that everyone is safe.” Morvant also books up far in advance, especially around the holidays, so she recommends ordering several months before
a birthday or special occasion. Her baked goods are typically made to order by batch and she also holds weekly bake sales where she’ll feature a treat of the week, along with any other items that she’ll sell individually. All information about current treats and upcoming sales can be found via her Instagram page (@winterfatebakes). Cajun food is another passion of Morvant’s and she also sells her own homemade Cajun Seasoning. Inspired by her dad’s cooking, it features freshly hand ground herbs, spices and rock salt, and can be used as a marinade, dry seasoning salt or dry rub. Aside from baking, the other love of Morvant’s life is her dog, Deuce. The American Pit Bull Terrier mix rescue who Morvant has had since he was a baby helped to inspire the other part of her business. “Deuce is 14½ years old and he’s just incredible and perfect in every way,” Morvant said. “A lot of the dog treats out there contain sugar, corn, soy and all these additives that I don’t want him to eat. If I could bake beautiful and healthy desserts for people, I was going to do the same for him. I’ve been baking for him his entire life and when I started my business, I knew I was going to have a bakery that served people and their dogs.” Morvant offers a wide variety of dog treats including birthday cakes, cookies and biscuits, ice cream and Smoothie Snacks. All of her dog treats are organic and free from unnatural sugar, preservatives and color additives. They’re also human grade so that dogs and their owners can share treats. All of the Smoothie Snacks on Morvant’s menu are named after Deuce’s dog friends and her website includes a section with photos of the different pups next to their favorite flavors. The frozen bite-size treats are made with fresh, local organic, dog-safe fruit and vegetables from the Playa Vista farmers market; vegan options are also available. The Deuce features her dog’s favorite flavor combination of peanut butter, banana, local honey and coconut yogurt.
