Online desserts shop in Henry Farm community offers fusion of French and Japanese pastries

The online bakery ito Desserts and Gifts, based in the Henry Farm community near Don Mills Road and Sheppard Avenue East, offers a combination of French and Japanese pastries.

The mini cake business was started by husband and wife duo, Fangchen Huang and Nami Tamai, because they noticed a gap in this market when it came to patisserie-grade mini cakes.

The name ‘Ito’ comes from the Japanese word ‘thread’ and they are hoping to thread these treats into the community.

“We were working from home during COVID times and remember complaining to Nami that I really missed the snacks and tea from the office and I wish I could have the same at home,” says Huang.

“So Nami got to work, she developed and tested recipes that could endure being frozen in the freezer for months and we leveraged the very powerful shock, frozen freezer to achieve the best results.”

Tamai is no stranger to making these sweet treats. She was a pastry chef for over 10 years, starting her career in Osaka, Japan, before moving to Toronto.

“I like to take traditional French desserts and give a little bit of kick of Japanese style,” says Tamai.

The business started out of their home in the Henry Farm community and while they still process orders there, desserts are made in a rented, commercial kitchen to keep up with demand.

“After running our online patisserie for the past year and a half we have received a lot of positive reviews from the local community especially here in Henry Farm.”

With this positive feedback the husband and wife team plan to open a storefront in 2024.