I get this much anticipated text about once a week:
Hi Sarah! I’ll have Sour Cherry & Pistachio Snacking Cake available for pick-up between 12-4 today. Text “claim” to claim this bake.
Once I “claim” my bake and the time slot opens, one of my girls and I drive just a few blocks to home baker Karri Suh’s house where she has a cooler with rainbow handles on her porch stuffed with snacking cakes (or fig eclairs…or blackout chocolate cake …or 5 layer peach basil cake…). We grab ours and drive home to let the whole family taste and discuss. Everyone has favorites — Karri’s month of French pastries was a huge hit in our house. As were her rainbow bakes during pride month.
Karri is part of The Baking Notification Project (BNP), an arrangement between home bakers and baked good-loving locals (like me) that finds homes for the “extras” inevitably created when a batch of cookies, cakes, etc. is made. I signed up for BNP in May 2022 and have loved watching it grow, getting to know my home baker, Karri, and trying her creative treats with my family. I appreciate that it’s a small amount that we can all share.
I’ve also enjoyed getting to know Jessica Morrison, who started BNP through her Instagram page @thebakingnotificationproject. Jessica and her husband, Brandon created the BNP app in October 2021, after her first attempt at making croissants yielded A LOT of excess for her small family of 3 that she preferred to share rather than throw away.
“I moved to Nashville, left my job as a journalist at a chemical Engineering Magazine, had a baby, and the pandemic started in the middle of it all. At the time, I felt disconnected to my community and neighbors. At home with an infant, I started to work through a baking cookbook my former colleagues had gifted me and when I found myself with so much excess, the idea was born to share these baked goods with my neighbors I sought to connect with.”
Jessica’s husband, a software engineer, helped bring her idea to life. At first, Jessica was the only baker as she figured out the app, but by January 2022 she began beta testing with other home bakers. “There are so many home bakers who popped up during the pandemic, many with a desire to share their excess while we were all so isolated.”
Basically, each baker can cook whenever and whatever they like — Jessica only requires they share a minimum of 2 bakes a month while following the state’s Cottage Food Laws (laws for selling homemade goods). Bakers pay a monthly fee of $25 and can charge their “customers” up to $10 a month to join their subscription — although several choose to offer their subscription for free. Bakers have a limit of 25 subscribers to keep it small and local. For subscribers like me, there needs to be a home baker in your local area for you to access the goods.
My neighborhood baker, Karri explains, “I love that I am able to bake what I want and then give away [the extra] to people who are interested in trying new things. Also, because the BNP bakers get all the subscription fees, it gives me a little extra money each month to buy new ingredients, experiment with flavors, and not worry about the extra cost.”
BNP has now expanded to 5 states with hundreds of subscribers. Jessica says, “we are going slowly. This is truly a passion project that has connected neighbors and built community during a time where so many felt so isolated. I now feel much more a part of my own neighborhood and the home baker community and we’re having fun with it while we continue to work out the kinks.”
Head to the project’s website to sign up to participate as a home baker or see if there’s one in your area. And if you’re in Sylvan Park, check out @karribakescake. In the meantime, I’m off to claim my latest snacking cake from that rainbow handled cooler on Karri’s porch - and this time, I may not share.
The Baking Notification Project
@thebakingnotificationproject
thebakingnotificationproject.com
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