Watch as Jessica crushes the spring baking competition on Mary Berg’s The Good Stuff
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
Held annually for the last 146 years, the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) has become a generational staple for Torontonians and Canadians alike.
In addition to a long list of events and activities, the CNE is also host to a plethora of different competitions – ranging from athletics and the arts to culinary ingenuity.
This year, at the CNE’s first-ever Cake Decorating Competition, local bakery Julienne’s Patisserie (2195 Gerrard St. E.) won first place and the People’s Choice Award for their unique cake design, which was both heartfelt and awe-inspiring.
“The cake’s design was kind of a whole mismatch of things. My grandma worked at the CNE for 21 years and the cafe is named after her – so first and foremost, we wanted to incorporate my grandma, as well as my teammate Rachel’s grandma into the cake design,” said Julienne’s owner and head baker Jessica Lee.
The award-winning cake, which stood four-feet tall, was adorned in ribbons, miniature versions of CNE rides and food vendors, old photos of Jessica and her teammate Rachel’s grandmother, and topped off with a bucket of cake-pop fried chicken to symbolize Rachel’s grandmother’s favourite food.
For this year’s competition theme, “unexpected pairings,” Jessica and Rachel focused on a combination of sweet and savoury ingredients.
“We really went hard with the unexpected pairings,” said Lee. “The second layer, we did a chocolate Coca-Cola, and then we had a corn dog cake, which was a cornbread cake with hotdogs in it and a ketchup buttercream, a honey mustard curd, and then a butter pickle jelly inside.”
Lee found some of the unexpected combinations to be more delicious than she expected, and has since added pairings like the Coca-Cola chocolate cake to the bakery’s selection.
Each layer of the cake was baked at her Gerrard Street East bakery and assembled at the CNE.
The cake was crafted with an overarching mission to celebrate the grandmother who paved the way for Julienne’s Patisserie’s existence.
“It was really a full circle moment to be at the CNE in a place where my grandma worked, and then to win a competition for something that me and her did when I was growing up,” said Lee. “It just goes to show her impact. Even though she’s not here anymore, she still has an impact on people.”
Julienne’s Bakery is named after Lee’s grandmother, whose legacy and love of baking served as the inspiration behind the vibrant pink cafe.
“She taught me how to bake growing up, and it’s been a forever thing. We always dreamed of opening our own bakery together, it just happened later down the line,” said Lee.
Julienne was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2021 and passed away in May of 2022.
In her earlier years, Julienne imparted her wisdom and baking skills to Jessica, who would later go on to open the bakery in her grandmother’s name.
For Lee, winning the CNE cake competition breathes new life into her grandmother’s legacy. “It just goes to show that what you do during the time that you’re here will impact everybody surrounding you – regardless if it’s people that you know or don’t know,” she said.
For more information about Julienne’s Patisserie, please visit the website at https://juliennes.ca/
By NAFISAT ALAO
As the owner of the newly opened Julienne’s Patisserie, Jessica Lee can’t remember a time when she wasn’t baking.
“I have been a pastry chef for as long as I can remember. I grew up baking with my grandma and started baking professionally in high school. Food has been my life … this is what I was meant to do,” she said.
Located on Gerrard Street East just west of Main Street in the Upper Beach, Lee named the bakery after her late grandmother, and its sweet and savoury treats include French macarons, pies, quiches, specialty teas and coffees, and made-to-order cakes and cookies.
“It was our dream to open a bakery together, so this is in her honour. She always went by Julie, but her full name is Julienne, and this is my homage to her,” Lee said.
Lee said she has always loved the Beaches neighbourhood having worked in the community in the past, which also made her want to stay and open up a business of her own here.
Her love of food and travelling inspired her to open up the bakery, she said.
“I love Europe — Paris is my favourite place to go. I spent a month there after college to explore and learn a little bit more about pastries and did a little bit of work there and that’s what inspired me to open this place up and do what I do,” she said.
The bakery’s charming ambiance draws inspiration from Parisian elegance, featuring delightful fresh flowers on tables and comfy seating adorned in a harmonious blend of pink and gold accents.
The bakery provides gluten-free and vegan pastry options for customers. Although her bakery is not a nut-free facility, she does have a lot of pastries, such as her cupcakes and scones, that don’t contain nuts.
She also offers catering services for special occasions such as weddings, birthdays and baby showers.
Lee believes that what sets her bakery business apart from others comes down to the curation of desserts, attention to detail and service that goes into her business.
“It’s definitely the care and the thought process that I put behind the design and the curating process behind all of the deserts that I have. All of it is taken from all of my travels … I go somewhere and I want to make the desert and show other people without them having to travel to that place themselves,” Lee said.
“What also sets us apart is we really care about our customer service, we make sure that everyone is comfortable and knows this is a welcoming place to sit and chill and bring family and friends,” she added.
So far, she says she has received very positive feedback from her customers and the surrounding businesses since opening her business in the community.
“It has been great, this community is truly unreal. There’s such a partnership between the businesses as well as the community itself and they really want to see you succeed,” Lee said.
She mentioned that it would be her dream to grow her business to more than it is now but she also doesn’t want to grow too fast.
“In a dream world I would love for this to be a chain, and franchise it, but I want to make sure to not grow too fast and have the quality fade away,” she said.
Her goal is to carry and produce quality products that she loves to make and carry items from other local businesses and support people in the neighbourhood.
The bakery is located at 2195 Gerrard Street East. For more information about the bakery or to visit their website juliennes.ca and their social media page on Instagram.
2025