Match-a made in heaven

My Sweet Parlor brings Thai desserts to downtown Columbia.

BY MARA DUMITRU

Pranlada Chompupong grew up surrounded by her grandmother’s baking supplies. Sitting between bags of sugar and flour, Chompupong watched as her grandmother prepared traditional Thai desserts. The intricate cakes would be sold at the family’s bakery, a small store located in Chompupong’s hometown in Concan, Thailand.

“She’s always been inspired by her grandma when she was little,” translates Kittikoon Chompupong for his wife. Fast forward 30 years and now across the Pacific Ocean, Chompupong’s passion became My Sweet Parlor, which opened Feb. 1 in downtown Columbia.

The Asian-style dessert shop features delicacies with Southeast Asian roots: coconut cakes, taro custard cakes and matcha red bean cake are a few options on Chompupong’s menu. My Sweet Parlor also serves as a gathering place for Columbia’s Asian community. Kittikoon Chompupong says about half the shop’s sales come from Asian customers.

Southeast Asian cuisine is diverse and dynamic, reflecting the unique histories and traditions of its people.

James Chiang, an MU student from Taiwan and frequent customer at My Sweet Parlor, says Chompupong’s desserts are authentic to cuisine back home. “It’s pretty much the same environment and the same concept,” he says. “I think it adds flavor to the Columbia downtown scene.”

Although Chompupong and her husband moved to the United States seven years ago, she continued to travel to Thailand to finish her culinary studies in Bangkok.

Creating a Thai bakery in a small Midwestern city wasn’t easy, and it took time for the desserts to pick up popularity. For Chompupong, this was just another obstacle she had to overcome. “It does take time to get used to this type of dessert,” Kittikoon Chompupong says. “And then she got a boost, an emotional boost, from people buying it.”

When it comes to desserts, Asian and American cuisines take different approaches. Thai desserts have flavor profiles that often feature combinations of sweet, salty and sour from ingredients such as coconut milk, pandan leaves and palm sugar. They also tend to be more fragrant and less sweet than American counterparts. The textures of Thai desserts are distinctive, with sticky rice and chewy tapioca pearls as popular components.

Among My Sweet Parlor’s most popular menu items is bingsu, a Korean dessert that typically consists of shaved ice topped with sweetened condensed milk, red bean paste and various fruits such as strawberries, kiwi and mango. Although the traditional bingsu flavor profile features red bean paste as the primary ingredient, the shop has different variations available, including green tea bingsu, chocolate bingsu and fruit bingsu. Other options include curry and croffles, which is waffles made with croissant dough.

As My Sweet Parlor continues to grow, Chompupong and her team of seven bakers remain committed to upholding the quality and authenticity of Thai desserts. Each dessert is crafted with precision and care, using traditional recipes that have been passed down through generations.

In addition to her regular menu, Chompupong also offers custom orders for special events, such as weddings and birthdays. Her ability to cater to a variety of tastes and preferences has made her a sought-after vendor in the local events

Many of My Sweet Parlor’s dessert recipes come from Thailand. Owner Pranlada Chompupong studied the culinary arts in Bangkok.

Treats From Thailand

industry. “They want to make sure that she’s the one who makes it, no one else,” Kittikoon Chompupong says.

As Chompupong continues to innovate and experiment with new flavors and techniques, baking is the constant in her life — from being surrounded by baking supplies as a child in Thailand to celebrating that heritage with her own shop thousands of miles from home.