Where to find us in 2024
Saline Craft Show
November 9, 2024
Hours: 8am - 3:30pm
Saline Middle School
7190 North Maple Road,Saline, MI 48176
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/KwAb5EBvhrREfsZEA
Kalamazoo Latvian Association Holiday Bazaar
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Hours: 10am - 2pm
100 Cherry Hill St, Kalamazoo, MI 49006
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/V9joLVkW2tZKaqpq7
Calder Store
December 14, 2024
Hours: 10am - 3pm
28190 Telegraph Rd., Flat Rock, MI 48134
Pastries
Holiday Cookies
My great-grandmother was Francis (Fojtik) Sebesta Cajka and came to the United States when she was 8-years old in 1912. I will always remember her little yellow car coming up the driveway on Sundays, bringing us some of the pastries or strudels she had made. She was part of my life until I was 30-years old and we baked together on many occasions. I lost my grandma, Irene (Sebesta) Kuehnlein, in 2012 and we were baking together until the week before she passed. Grama’s Czech music was always playing in the background whenever we baked together, or we would sing one of the dozen Czech folksongs she had taught all of her grandkids.
I loved spending that time with both of them. They are some of my most cherished memories, and I intend to preserve that heritage by continuing to bake their recipes for all of you.
The Czechbox Bakery is a Michigan Cottage Food business providing heritage Eastern European baked goods to Southeast Michigan. Our seasonal baked goods are based on Michigan's growing season: rhubarb in June, tart cherries and currants in July, apples in September, nuts and seeds in winter. As a heritage baker, we use ingredients that were available to most Eastern European people 150 years ago. It's all about what great-grandma would have baked.
Founded in the fall of 2012 with just a bushel of dad’s apples and a desire to keep great-grandma’s apple strudel alive for our family, Czechbox Bakery’s list of baked goods has grown with even more heritage recipes from family and friends, now including my husband’s Latvian heritage, so I have a few Baltic additions.
Please join our email list or “Like” us on Facebook if you would like to learn what we have available at any given time. I always describe this .com page as my ‘menu’, and my Facebook page as what I’m doing day-to-day.
FAQ
-Where is your store?
I don’t have a store. You will often find me at Farmer’s Markets in the SE Michigan area. Join my email list to find out where and when. I promise I don’t spam. Or follow me on Facebook. I often have FB-Only and e-mail list sales for small batch bakes to show appreciation to my followers.
-How many people does a strudel serve?
Well, that depends on you how you cut it. It's 12-14" long. In my family, a whole strudel serves two; three if someone really gets squinty-eyed when they see you cutting it. People usually cut the strudel into one & a half inch thick slices so it serves between 6-8 people.
- Do you bake gluten-free or sugar-free?
No, I'm sorry. Baking GF or using sugar substitutes requires ingredients that were not around 150 years ago and our business model is about heritage baking; using similar ingredients/fruits/nuts that were readily available around that time period.
-Do you cater?
Yes, I can cater desserts for small events (about 50 people). Which items I have available will depend on the growing season. Prices average about $4 per serving, but it depends on how you cut the products. Please contact me and let’s talk!
-Are you involved in your community?
Absolutely! Not only is CBB a member of Foodlab Detroit and the Michigan Farmers Market Association, but our family has always been involved in making our community a better place to live through extensive volunteerism and charity.
Czechbox Bakery is not a brick and mortar store. We are a Michigan Cottage Food Business. Our baked goods are made in a home kitchen that is not inspected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development.
