Icing on the Cupcake

It seems apropos, somehow that a fantastic pastry chef would discover her passion in France, doesn’t it?

“I was about 21 when I realized my love for cooking,” Jen Bush, pastry chef at Lucky’s Bakehouse & Creamery, says. “I had lived over in France and turned 21 over there. When I got back, I went to cooking school in San Francisco, and here I am, 20-plus years later, still madly in love with my profession!”

But baking was in her blood long before she went pro. She describes her mom as a “fantastic” cook who poured her love into everything she cooked. “I just thought every family invested as much time in cooking and pastry as mine did,” she recalls. “My mom would make beautiful chocolate apricot cakes with amazing chocolate work for birthdays.” She laughs. “Then I discovered that most moms just made boxed cakes.”

If you’ve ever tried to bake a cake from scratch (or something a little more complex, even) you know that pastry is one part art, one part science—and one part pure talent.

Lucky’s Bakehouse & Creamery is a marvel of an outpost, and worthy of Bush’s art, science and talent. The first time I visited, cake pedestals piled high with clouds of pink spun sugar and light fixtures made from industrial-sized whisks gave the warm, open bakeshop a whimsical feel. The pastries themselves are edible mini masterpieces: cupcakes piled high with light-as-air buttercream, creamy frozen delights that are as pretty to look at as they are to taste—gluten-free treats that don’t taste like cardboard. “About a third of our business is gluten-free at the Bakehouse,” Bush says. She’s quick to add, “I have nothing against wheat, I just love that you can create beautiful pastries that don’t have wheat as well.  It’s come so far.”

And the Bakehouse seems to be a good metaphor for how far Bush has come, as well. Rows of perfect, gem-colored macaroons recall her French epiphany, while totally American treats like s’mores cookies bring everything back down to earth. “I strive for it to be high end, yet totally accessible to everyone,” Bush says of the bakery. “We really use amazing ingredients, and the pastries reflect that.” Indeed, she sources local eggs and cream and Colorado-grown fruit, not to mention organics. “I love really clean and simple cooking, just using the best ingredients and not messing with them too much.”

And, like her mom before her, she’s passing that love of cooking and good food on to her daughters. “I love that I can have a long day at work, and my girls will put together a lovely meal,” she says. “Everything tastes better when it is made with love.”