Hi! I’m Laura
Welcome to The Goods!
The Goods was born from both an infatuation with baking and a commitment to local food systems and community based agriculture. My name is Laura, lead baker, and founder of The Goods. I adore baking with my whole being: the creative brainstorming, the baking process, the final creation, the indulging, all of it. I am also passionate about revitalizing our food system. I have spent the last six years pursuing a degree in Environmental Geography. This degree has given me the tools and resources to think critically about the complex issues and challenges that face our world, food systems and beyond. When I am not in the kitchen, I work full time on an urban farm in Vancouver. This work fulfills me in many ways and I hope to continue with my personal agricultural endeavors into the future,
In April of 2021, with the encouragement of my dear friends, I decided to use my skills in the kitchen to create a business that is devoted to quality ingredients and is locally supported. Thus was born The Goods: good food, good friends, good cake.
Every time you put food on your plate, you are taking a stance. Humans eat food every day, and most eat multiple times a day. The choices you make when it comes to your food are not apolitical or passive; every day we make active choices. They are not always within our control but the ones that are I truly believe matter. A slice of cake from The Goods supports organic dairy farmers in BC, small-scale cocoa plantations in Tanzania, local fruit growers in the Okanagan, Vancouver flour mills and so many more! I work hard to source as quality ingredients as my scale allows and by no means is it perfect, but we make the active choice to do better. Plus… you get to eat cake :)
Take the time to reflect when you sit down to your slice, ponder on the origins of the ingredients, and on the care and attention that was put into putting everything together… it's a truly beautiful process, one I feel so lucky to share with all of you
ethos
EAT GOOD FOOD
People always talk to me about “indulging” when they eat dessert. I have never liked delineating between what is and is not an indulgence. Food is food, energy, goodness, intention, and care. My cakes are made using freshly milled organic flour, local fruits prepared and grown by bc farmers, whole-fat cream, and butter whipped together to create silky smooth fillings. These are foods. Our bodies need and crave food. So nourish yourself; with good cake, warm tea, community, laughter, and whatever else fills you up. I wish to highlight and revel in the reality that cake is simply food, redefined.
Ideally seasonal, ideally local, inclusive
The by-product of globalization is the ability to eat from all corners of the world daily, morning coffees, afternoon sugary treats, and evening wines. It’s all spun together in a complicated web of supply and production. So no, my cakes are not always seasonal nor are they always local. But for every cake I bake, I set an intention to support my farmers and my community business with my craft. I do my best to use in-season fruits during the summer months and storage crops during the colder wintering months. I always see if I can find a local flour miller for my specialty flours in particular.
The cake pictured to the right was made on a hot mid-August afternoon in British Columbia. the blackberries I stewed for the filling and frosting were picked wild, and the eggplant adorned on top was plucked fresh that morning from a greenhouse at a local farm. I used dairy for my curd filling and buttercream as well as a local BC miller for the cornmeal cake. It’s not perfect but with baking, we have to work hard to make inroads in an industry that is too often about the finished product, so frequently forgetting the critical people and places that made it all come to life in your mouth. I encourage you to reflect on your morning pastry, your afternoon sweet treat, in the same way you would the meat on your plate or the eggs in your omelette. food is food at the end of the day, it is all entwined in the complicated and often exploitative world of industrial agriculture. they may be small choices but I truly believe they are significant.
Be delighted
If you have ever met me, I like to think you’ve sensed my optimism. The Gooods is a child of the delight I find in the kitchen, in the garden, and in the colours and textures of a detailed confectionary. I hope to inspire a whimsical delight with my baked goods. Order a cake for your lover, for your mum, for your parent, your partner, your friend, your sibling, or your dearest pal and wish them delight. It’s a simple gift that nothing compares to, I promise.