Today we’d like to introduce you to Yencheed Fang.
Hi Yencheed, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As far back as I can remember, my family has always been in the food vending business – I spent much of my childhood trying new foods and assisting in whatever ways I could in the kitchen. My love for cooking eventually transitioned into my love for baking. My father is who I should give credit to – he was an avid cook; I remember him always venturing off to try out new recipes and food ideas to pitch out into the world. Some of these ideas included selling fusion-style egg rolls, owning a pretzel shop, and eventually leading into selling sweet treats like bubble waffles and crepes. I have always been fascinated with the delicate aesthetics of cakes and desserts – to add, not only are they beautiful, but tasty as well. Finding I had more time on my hands, in the summer of 2014, I decided to pick up a new hobby and give baking a try. I signed my life away for a few hours and began my baking 101 course at our local Michaels. I came back home that day, baked a cake, and decorated it with a buttercream recipe I found on google. Results? Terrible. The cake turned out too sweet and let’s just say my cake piping skills could use a few more courses. I didn’t bake another cake after that. Some five years later, I took a trip and visited my sister in-law in “The Big Apple.” Perusing through the streets of Chinatown, I discovered this wonderful Japanese bakery. This bakery specialized in Japanese cheesecakes – I took one bite into the fluffy and airy cheesecake and fell in love! Lo and behold, that single bite would ignite my confidence to try baking again. When I returned back to Minnesota, my first google search was “Japanese Cheesecakes near me.” To my surprise, nothing like this existed in Minnesota. Eager to share and introduce this to Minnesota, I began experimenting with recipes and finally was able to create a recipe that worked!
This was the start of So Yen Desserts. The name So Yen was created by putting my one and only daughter’s name “Soraya” with mine, “Yencheed,” thus creating “SoYen.” The rest is history – I suppose when you’re meant to do something, it always comes back somehow. I believe baking is an art; I get to bring out my creativity. I love the idea of seeing the final product— its satisfying. I started focusing on Japanese cheesecakes, have added crepe cakes, and newly just introduced brioche donuts in a variety of flavors. I would often bake and share my desserts with family and friends and eventually through word of mouth I started receiving messages asking if I was taking orders. It’s been truly amazing to see how fast word gets around. I am humbled by the amount of people all over Minnesota who support us. It brings joy and happiness to me to know that my desserts can sweeten up someone’s day. It has been 4 years now and I could not be happier. I am thankful for the outpour of love and continuous support from our customers, family, and friends. We are currently on a hunt to find a storefront or a better way to serve our customers. What started as hobby and curiosity became something more. We would not be where we are today without our customers’ love and support. We hope moving forward we can find ways to give back!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of the most difficult challenges I face is finding a balance with running SoYen Desserts along with my daily life of being a mother and working a full time job. With given those factors, I am only able to dedicate so much time to baking and oftentimes cannot meet the demands of my customers.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Currently, my husband and I both are running SoYen Desserts. We offer a few different types of desserts however, we are most known for our Japanese Cheesecake Souffles. The traditional Japanese Cheesecake does not come with toppings or frosting. However, we have added our own twist to the dessert and top all of our cheesecakes with a light whipped cream cheese frosting and depending on flavor we often time always add fresh fruits. It is the perfect combination and our customers love it. Apart from our Japanese Cheesecakes, we also recently added brioche donuts. They are light, fluffy and soft and filled with different flavor fillings that are not too overpowering and have just the right amount of sweetness, leaving you wanting more.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
People find it surprising when I share with them that enjoy Muay Thai training. It’s a little escape from the chaotic world. I guess bakers are typically seen as soft and Muay Thai is typically viewed as tough so a lot of customers and/or friends are usually surprised when I share with them of my extracurricular activities outside of being a baker and a mom.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soyendesserts
