Just Desserts: Sweet Tart Bakery

Beijing has no shortage of over-wrought, style-over-substance cakes and confections, the stuff of local bakeries and hotel coffee shops. Proper homebaked cakes and pies on the other hand? If you don’t happen to have a friend who’s particularly gifted with a whisk and an oven, then you’ll probably have to resign yourself to those rare trips home to experience a real sweet treat.

Unless, that is, you happen to have the email for Sweet Tart Bakery, the latest of Beijing’s growing population of one man (or one woman in this case) delivery companies. Founder Britt Langford, who originally hails from Maine, decided to fill the gap in the market with a short but sweet menu of baked delights including cupcakes, muffins, cheesecake, and fruit tarts. Her signature is her painted cookies (three cookies from RMB 60), inspired by time spent painting watercolors with her
artist father growing up. The cookies are true works of art, the simple sugar cookie base holding a layer of slightly lemony icing decorated with vivid designs like flowers and WeChat emoticons. In fact, her cooking painting skills are so good that Paul Frank recently commissioned her to bake 500 branded cookies for their annual party. High praise indeed.

The large bakes we tried, a classic cheesecake (RMB 360, 9-inch) and apple tart (RMB 220, 11-inch), were both on the sweet side, but we wouldn’t mind indulging for the occasional treat. The cheesecake in particular was a big hit, departing from the usual graham cracker crust with a sentry-like wall of upright savoiardi biscuits, which added an interesting new dimension. 

Sweet Tart is currently available for delivery only. Order via their WeChat store: SweetTart2014 or email them at sweetartbakery@outlook.com for more information.

More stories by this author here.

Email: robynnetindall@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Ken