82 Bakeshop proves 'desserts can be delicious without extra sugar'

While it might be an unpopular opinion, Peter Song and Katie Baek think desserts are much better with less sugar.

"We didn't intentionally reduce sugars because of health, but we wanted to make [desserts] more delicious, because we found it's not delicious to eat overly sweet desserts," Song said.

The couple own 82 Bakeshop, which is located at 109-412 Willowgrove Sq. in Saskatoon. There, you'll find popular sweet treats like cookies, macarons and their signature cookie puffs, but everything has 30 to 50 per cent less sugar than a typical recipe.

Song grew up in Regina, but he and Baek are both from South Korea. The bakery's name comes from the country code for South Korea, which is 82, like 1 is for Canada.

"We're inspired by South Korean-style desserts because we believe that South Korean desserts are really trendy, very fast changing and it's a very high standard," Song said. "We are proud that we're from there."

Desserts in South Korea typically have less sugar than those in Canada, Song said.

"What we found here in Canada is that probably almost all desserts are overly sweet," he said, adding that they didn't understand why adding more sugar is necessary if desserts still taste good with less.

Turns out, their customers agree.

"First thing we do when we try recipes is try with [a] normal [amount of] sugar, and then reduce as much as possible to try the difference," Song said. "If it's still delicious, then we try with [even] less sugar. I think that's one of our strengths and people come here and ask for that."

Pandemic project turned bakery

82 Bakeshop started with pandemic-imposed isolation and a self-imposed challenge.

After graduating from high school in Regina, Song went back to South Korea to complete mandatory military service, then he and Baek got married and welcomed their first child. They decided to move to Saskatchewan to raise their family and initially settled in Regina in 2020.

Baek got work in a restaurant, but when the COVID-19 pandemic started, she had to stay home. Wanting to be productive, she decided to teach herself how to bake macarons.

"At the time in Korea, macarons were a hit," Song said. "But it was a lot more difficult than we thought it would be. It took her about three months just for the shell to come out perfectly."

Once perfected, they decided to sell their macarons through social media to their neighbours and were met with enthusiasm.

From there, the search for a storefront began to enable them to expand their menu and "so that people [could] try different trendy items that are popular in Korea," Song said.

They tracked down a "perfect size" storefront in Willowgrove and a house in the east end neighbourhood so they packed up and moved to Saskatoon. 82 Bakeshop officially opened in September 2021.

Return to Regina

The most popular items at 82 Bakeshop are the macarons, which come in flavours like creme brulee and chocolate, and their cookie puffs, which are similar to cream puffs but have a thinner, crispy cookie outer shell, which is then filled with flavoured custard, like strawberry, caramel and earl grey. Flavours rotate daily.

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They also offer custom cakes, including their popular Santa Claus cakes, which can be pre-ordered two days in advance.

They carry some gluten-free items as well, like their cheesecake and most of their macarons.

And in the new year, customers can expect vegan baking. In the fall, the couple travelled to South Korea to learn more about vegan baking so they could offer something customers have been requesting for a while.

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A second location is also in the works for Regina, set to open this Friday at 2245 Albert St., which Song said will have the same menu as the Saskatoon one.

"I want people to feel that they don't have to go to the airport and take flights to try good desserts," Song said. "They just can come here and feel that they're in South Korea."