Swiss roots, scratch-made treats: meet Nadja of Blissful Unique Bakery

0:03Richelle DeliaHello and welcome back to Local Business Spotlight. I'm Richelle Delia and don't forget Local Business Spotlight is sponsored by Reviews on Tap. I'm here with Nadja Ouedraogo and she is from the, let me make sure I get it correct, the Blissful Unique Bakery.

0:22Richelle DeliaThank you so much for joining me today Nadja.

0:24Nadja OuedraogoThank you for having me.

0:25Richelle DeliaOh my goodness, I'm so excited to learn about your bakery. So tell me your story, Morning Glory, how'd this all get started? Just reading about your bakery, my mouth was watering, just reading your summary.

0:37Nadja OuedraogoYeah.

0:38Nadja OuedraogoSo I just, I think I gave birth to my son and he started eating solids and I just wanted to make sure I can bake something good for him.

0:50Nadja OuedraogoI am born and raised in Switzerland and I'm used to kind of different treats than here. I mean more delicious treats. Well, I would say yeah, and just definitely less sweet treats, less sugary, less probably processed food and I just had so big difficulties knowing I have to go to a store and

1:19Nadja Ouedraogomy son wants to get cupcakes. So I just wanted to make sure I start baking something that I can give my kids guilt-free and I can also give them part of my heritage, part of where I come from, show this and make sure he still gets sweets and treats without feeling guilty.

1:43Nadja OuedraogoAnd then I started baking for neighbors and friends and I have my wonderful friend Emily and I was, I just need a tester, right? So I baked for her and then she was keep telling me, Nadja, your things are so amazing and your things are so unique that you cannot find them here.

2:04Nadja OuedraogoYou cannot find them in the area. Your quality is top notch and the flavors are good. You got to do something. And I was like, yeah, no, I don't know.

2:13Nadja OuedraogoI'm not so sure. You know, I love baking, but, and she kept pushing me and said, you got to do something. It's so great. And I just, I just jumped in and I was like, okay, let's just do something and, and ever since I, it has been, it has been great.

2:32Nadja OuedraogoSo I've just getting out there and I'm blessed for every customer who, who tries my, my treats and gives me a chance and yeah.

2:42Richelle DeliaOh, well, Nadja, I tell you, if you ever need someone with quality control, let me know. I am absolutely, absolutely willing. You're so right. Before we started recording, we were chatting about how we both have baby boys that are about four and a half.

2:55Richelle DeliaThey're both born in May, 2022. And you're right. You know, it's something about, you know, that was my first baby and it sounds like that was, you know, your boy was also your first baby as well.

3:07Richelle DeliaSo yay for May 22, baby boys, but it's something about becoming a mother where you, you really are, or at least, you know, we seem to have similar opinions on this, that you really want to have more thoughtful items that you can give to your child.

3:23Richelle DeliaYou don't want to deny them. You know, they're still kids, right? So yes, they're going to want the cupcakes and the croissants and all the things and truthfully I do too, but I want to be able to do so guilt-free.

3:32Richelle DeliaAnd so I think that is just such a great position. So you know, tell me a little bit about how, you know, what, what separates you because let's be honest, there are bakeries everywhere and all over my, my Instagram feed.

3:45Richelle DeliaSo what separates your bakery from all the others that, that we come across?

3:50Nadja OuedraogoSo I really pay a lot of attention in the products that I use and that I use in my baking. So I use mostly organic products. I use European butter.

4:03Nadja OuedraogoI use real vanilla. Like I don't use what, like the, the vanilla extract that you get here, the real stuff, Madagascar vanilla. Yes, and I really use like vanilla, like the beans either I scratch it out and a lot of my recipes, they contain like vanilla sugar and I make some, not some,

4:26Nadja Ouedraogobasically most of the things that I need, I make it from scratch because you just cannot find it. There's recipes that we, I use almond, almond paste in it.

4:37Nadja OuedraogoI'll make it from scratch because you cannot find good quality almond paste here. So it's very important for me that the love that I put in my product, which you can smell and taste, and hear, I can hear the love right now, you know, it's very important that people can get still great

5:01Nadja Ouedraogoquality to still a good price, you know, it's not. And I feel like that's the most important thing for me that I can put quality products into a simple product.

5:17Nadja OuedraogoAnd I don't want to overpower it with too much sugar because it's not necessary. If you have high quality products, which I put in in my product, then you get an amazing product.

5:29Nadja OuedraogoAnd I think this makes me better than, than other, well, other, other bakeries. And I feel like the craftsman, the European craftsmanship, the, how, how we do things, how we learn things to, to make and bake and then the high quality ingredients.

5:50Nadja OuedraogoYeah. That makes me very strong on the market.

5:53Richelle DeliaAbsolutely. Well, I'm, I know I am curious and I'm sure other people are, are as well. What are your specialties? Like, you know, I, if I'm thinking of a Swiss bakery, I, I'm not sure exactly what comes to mind.

6:05Richelle DeliaI can think like baklava and some bakeries, croissants and others, what, what are, what would you say is your specialty or your top one to three items that you're, you're absolutely known for?

6:14Nadja OuedraogoThree items only. Oh my God.

6:16Richelle DeliaOkay.

6:17Nadja OuedraogoNow you're challenging me. So you know, one of my favorite is definitely my, my sourdough Zopf. It's kind of a braided bread and it's comparable to challah, but it not, not quite.

6:32Nadja OuedraogoSo it's more buttery, more rich, more, more brioche like, so it's, it's the like really, it's like a heavy bread. That's definitely one of my top sellers.

6:46Nadja OuedraogoAnd then my variety of tiramisu. So I make a classical tiramisu cake. I do raspberry tiramisu and I do pistachio tiramisu, like different varieties. And then one of my favorites are mille-feuille.

7:04Nadja OuedraogoI think you call them Napoleon here, like puff pastry filled with custard cream and heavy cream. That's one of my favorites. And then I think my chocolate mousse is, is, it's pretty good too, but I mean, yeah, I think everything, and then I have an upcoming Thanksgiving sale where I make like European,

7:30Nadja Ouedraogowell it's a Swiss recipe. It's a very old recipe from Bernese pumpkin pie. And I have some vanilla bliss, nut bliss pie on the menu, which I'm trying.

7:47Nadja OuedraogoAnd I think I'm trying to still get the American way, but put it in European.

7:54Richelle DeliaKeep it original dear. It sounds amazing. Yeah.

7:57Nadja OuedraogoKeep it, keep it still originally European, but still make it so that American know kind of what they get. I think that's very important. Yeah. So yeah, I have some, some good stuff on there.

8:12Nadja OuedraogoIt sounds

8:12Richelle Delialike it. Well, my mouth is watering and I'm sure everyone listening to this, their mouth is as well. Please let us know how we can find you.

8:19Richelle DeliaIf someone is interested and they're like, I'm about to break a nail trying to figure out how to find her. Yeah. So

8:24Nadja Ouedraogoyou can find me on Instagram or Facebook under Blissful Unique Bakery and I have everything listed and I am open to any inquiry. So if you see anything or you don't see any, something on it that you would like, or you would like to taste from Europe, please contact me through DM or

8:46Nadja Ouedraogoby phone. I'm available for any inquiries and would love to bake.

8:51Richelle DeliaWonderful. Well, thank you so much for joining me today Nadja. It has been absolutely my pleasure and everyone stay tuned for the next interview. We'll see you next time.

9:00Nadja OuedraogoSee you next time. Thank you so much.