A pecan pie is nestled in an array of pastries and treats, including kouign-amann, sourdough chocolate chip cookies, and molasses cookies. Photos: Chris Emeott
Local baker blends tradition and taste to create a variety of sweet desserts.
Michelle Grey is one of those lucky people who grew up surrounded by bakers and cooks. First, it was her grandfather Robert Dahlberg who would create birthday cakes and other wonderful baked goods from scratch in his St. Anthony kitchen. Then it was her father who took to the kitchen to cook. Because of them, she developed a deep love of baking. To this day during family trips up to their cabin, her father cooks, and she bakes. But what drives her is the memory of Dahlberg.
“He took it up in his retirement,” Grey says of Dahlberg’s passion for baking. “He would pull recipes from all my grandma’s ’80s magazines and say, ‘Oh, I think I’m going to try this today.’ It was always lots of fun.”
Inspired by those cherished memories, it was only a matter of time before Grey tried her hand in the culinary arts. “I’ve always been a baker and enjoy cooking. It’s always been something I do: making birthday cakes for the family, making desserts for all holidays,” she says.
Michelle Grey
Then, during COVID-19, she was at home with her kids and started to make sourdough bread and more labor-intensive pastries such as kouign-amann.
“I had people asking me if I’d consider selling. I had friends and family asking for things. I thought, ‘Maybe this is something I should try,’” she says.
Three years ago, Grey decided to leave her career as a quality assurance manager for websites and apps to pursue her lifelong passion for baking. She bakes from home under Minnesota’s Cottage Food Law. Cakejam not only pays homage to Dahlberg’s legacy but also serves as a testament to the power of family traditions in shaping one’s dreams and ambitions. She is constantly searching for what her customers like and want to buy. She discovered they enjoy her bread.
Grey’s wide variety of bread is becoming popular at farmers markets. She even offers a monthly bread subscription service. This is just a sample of her creations: focaccia, sourdough boule and Bundt cake.
“Her sourdough is my family’s favorite,” says Megan Norman, a Cakejam customer. “I have ordered many of her different breads, special holiday boxes, cakes and more. Everything is delicious and full of flavor. Michelle is using good and fresh ingredients.”
Grey is obsessed with placing only the best ingredients in her baking. “It’s important to me what we put into our bodies, food-wise,” Grey says. “I’m the parent who’s always telling my kids, ‘Make sure it’s organic. If you’re going over to a friend’s house, don’t drink three cans of soda, just drink one. Don’t go crazy.’ Don’t get me wrong, we still have [cheese crackers] and the occasional box of [fruity cereal] in the house; I’m not evil. I really try to limit the junk food in the house. Everything I bake with is organic. I try to make all the jams. Anything extra, I make from scratch. I’ll make big batches of jam and put them in the freezer.”
Grey says as she got older, she developed a dairy intolerance. While she still uses butter and Greek yogurt in many of her recipes, she substitutes with dairy-free or lactose-free items. Grey also has gluten sensitivity, which prompted her to undergo hours of research to find local ingredients that are wholesome and digestible. She found Minnesota’s Sunrise Flour Mill.
“They are what you consider gluten sensitive with an organic grain,” she says. “It’s milled in the European style. A lot of people can process it better. It’s what we use exclusively in our house, and I use it exclusively in all my baking. Unless I’m baking something that is entirely gluten-free, I use something else.”
In addition to bread, she also makes breakfast pastries. People who sign up for her bread subscription service receive one loaf of bread and two pastries. Customers can pick up items on Friday evening or elect for free delivery in Edina on Saturday mornings.
For the holidays, Cakejam offers a pecan pie, gift boxes of six and 12 cookies and chocolate cake. For Grey, her work is fulfilling. And while she strives to bake new recipes, she sometimes uses Dahlberg’s recipes. She has them saved in her kitchen, his notes written on every page. “He was very methodical in his process,” she says. “He tweaked them over the years. There are so many notes on the pages about weighing the products.”
Grey treasures her grandfather’s handwritten recipes.
Baking was Dahlberg’s gift that he shared with the world, just as it is hers. “I look at it as my love language,” Grey says. “I like baking for other people. I like seeing that finished product. I like seeing the enjoyment.”
Michelle Grey’s Pumpkin Pie
Michelle Grey first made a pumpkin pie with her grandfather while she was in college. They baked the pie from scratch, using sugar pumpkins from a specialty grocery store. The recipe they found was meticulous and took two days to complete. She has since gotten it down to an art. Grey suggests using organic ingredients, when possible.
Michelle Grey’s Pumpkin Pie
Pie Crust
- 21 gingersnaps (The hard, crunchy kind work the best.)
- 1 1/2 cup pecans
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled
Pie Filling
- 1 15 oz. canned pumpkin
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/3 cup whole milk
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Heat oven to 350 F. In a food processor, combine gingersnaps, pecans, sugar and cooled butter. Blend until well combined. Press into a 9-inch pie plate. (If the crust doesn’t go all the way up the sides of your pie plate, that’s OK.) Bake the crust for 8–12 minutes until it turns light brown. Set aside to cool while you make the filling. In a medium size saucepan over medium high heat, stir together pumpkin, maple syrup, spices and salt. Bring to a simmer while stirring constantly. Reduce heat; cook, stirring constantly until thick, dark brown and fragrant, usually 3–5 minutes. Let cook for a few minutes; scrape into a blender or food processor, and blend for 1 minute. Add milk, and process again for 1–2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla one at a time; blend until all is incorporated. Pour the mixture onto the crust. (If there’s extra filling, place it in a small ramekin and bake alongside your pie.) Bake at 375 F for 50–60 minutes until the center is set and there is some cracking on the top of the pie.
Cakejam
5221 Abercrombie Drive
