Meet Candace Allison and Ben Pinkus of Big Love Bakeshop

Today we’d like to introduce you to Candace Allison and Ben Pinkus.

Hi Candace and Ben, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We’re the co-owners of Big Love Bakeshop, a licensed home bakery based in Denver that opened for business in April 2021. We craft small-batch cookies that are vegan, gluten-free and made with all organic ingredients. It’s been a dream of ours for several years now to open a food-related business… food truck, restaurant – we didn’t quite know. In late 2019, we decided to go vegan. Since then, the way we think about and prepare food has drastically changed, and we’ve been inspired to truly consider the impact we have on our planet. Then at the beginning of 2021, after a long, painful year of soul-searching during the pandemic and releasing a lot of fear of the unknown, we decided to leave our previous jobs (that had nothing to do with baking), take the plunge, and start our own business together.

Immediately we began recipe testing and figuring out our brand. At the core of our mission, we want to spread love, and we thought – what better way to do that than by sharing delicious baked goodies? Cookies have a very special place in our hearts; they’re so nostalgic for us. We decided to launch our menu with three cookie flavors to start, but we’re very excited to expand to other items in the future. Deciding to make everything gluten-free was very important to us as well. We were seeing so many of our friends and family struggling to find gluten-free, readily available dessert options that don’t lack flavor and don’t compromise on texture – and we wanted to help!

Currently, we operate as a vendor at local Denver farmers markets and pop-up events around the city – and we keep our Instagram community up-to-date on the latest. But we also ship cookies Colorado-wide and are open for orders on biglovebakeshop.com. Our BIG goal is to one day open a physical Big Love Bakeshop location in Denver where we can create a loving, safe space for all humans, regardless of gender, age, race, or sexuality: an environment where all feel welcome loved, seen and cared for.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This journey has been such a difficult and rewarding one. One of our big challenges has been putting ourselves out there. We’re both fairly shy when it comes to social media in our personal lives, and we’ve been really pushed to create content and share about our lives in a way we never have before. It’s scary at times, but this journey has also driven us to work on our inner selves and grow to love ourselves more, combatting the thoughts that tell us we’re not enough or that everything is going to fail. Self-doubt and anxiety are constant challenges. We have to approach every single day as a new one, let go of the past and any expectations we have, and just BE in the moment. It’s incredibly difficult, but it’s getting easier as we go. We just have to keep going!

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Big Love Bakeshop?
Big Love Bakeshop is a licensed home bakery that specializes in vegan and gluten-free baked goods. Though our operation may be small, our quality is top-notch. You can guarantee you’re getting a personalized, small-batch-crafted experience any time you purchase that is going to be immensely flavorful and memorable. Contrary to a lot of popular gluten-free baking, we do not use a premade gluten-free flour mix in our goodies. Instead, we utilize naturally gluten-free flours in specific amounts for each item to give it the perfect texture. The cookies currently on our menu are made with either almond, oat or brown rice flour. Plus, we utilize only certified organic ingredients! It’s very important to us that we invest in products created with pesticide-free farming practices that are kind to Earth’s soil, to ultimately craft sweets you can feel good about all around.

The current fan-favorite on our menu is the Oatmeal Dreamwich, which features two cinnamon, ginger molasses cookies topped with oats – sandwiched around a layer of vanilla buttercream icing. Also on our menu is the Warm Hug – our take on a classic chocolate chip – along with the Triple Chocolate Treat-Ya-Self. We offer customizable 6-cookie sampler boxes online, as well as packs of two at local events.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
We’re in the process of networking currently as we build our business. So far, what has worked best is reaching out to current friends and connections and asking for any additional connections they may have. We’ve also heavily utilized Instagram to meet and engage with the Colorado community. Asking for help along this journey has shown us that people do truly want to help – they just have to know how first.

Pricing:

• $28.50 for a Customizable Big Love Cookie Box (ships anywhere in CO)

Contact Info:

• Website: biglovebakeshop.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/biglovebakeshop