Partners in Yumminess
Pandemic moves couple’s bakery dream to the front burner
Jenn and Jay Chapman of Honey and the Hive Bakery are a winning duo in life and business. It seems appropriate to give Jenn top billing because her enthusiasm and ideas clearly drive the bakery they have created together and because Jay gladly takes a role behind the scenes of the bakery, as he has in their previous endeavors as a couple.
Jenn says jokingly that she is the mastermind and Jay is her henchman, while at the same time lavishly singing his praises. “Jay is amazing. He allows me to dream and pursue things that are meaningful.”
They met when she hired him more than 20 years ago at California State University, Northridge, and they continued working in higher education together for a short time in Jenn’s native state of Maine when their two oldest kids were young and later at California State University, Channel Islands. The couple always dreamed of someday starting a bakery, though maybe it wouldn’t be until they retired.
As for many others, 2020 changed their course. Prior to COVID, Jenn was planning corporate events and Jay was consulting for a software company. But then, Jenn lost her corporate job.
Jay was still working and Jenn was home with the kids, enjoying a very different lifestyle of yoga, arts and crafts, school-at-home and baking “a lot of bread.”
“I’m glad to have had the opportunity to leave everything behind for a while, but I needed a personal purpose,” Jenn says.
Their plans of a far-in-the-future bakery moved to the forefront.
PARTNERSHIP PAIRINGS
A new coffee shop in Moorpark turned out to be the catalyst for a whole new set of partnerships for the Chapmans as they discovered new possibilities with pairings and flavor collaborations.
“California Coffee Republic (CCR) had just opened at The Alley in Moorpark and we had been there a few times and chatted with the owners about our ideas,” says Jenn. “I wanted some feedback before we got started, so when I got up the nerve I asked if they wanted to do a tasting with us.”
Lucas Sellers Wine, next door to CCR, joined in, and together were first on the list of local partners that Jenn and Jay call their lifeline. “They had great feedback and were so excited for us,” says Jenn. “That gave us the confidence to say, ‘Hey, let’s do this!’”
With each collaboration, Honey and the Hive has seen a wave of new customers, and new inspiration for the innovative flavors of its products.
Wine and cupcake pairings with Lucas Sellers Wine have included a honey vanilla cupcake with sage pear compote and ginger buttercream paired with a 2019 Grenache Blanc; and a pistachio cardamom cupcake with dark chocolate ganache paired with their 2019 Gewürztraminer.
“We know no better,” is how the couple describes their experience in baking. Jay is self-taught, but says he has taken the time to learn the science behind baking. And, without the confines of formal training, he’s not afraid to use and mix unusual ingredients in Honey and the Hive’s signature cupcakes and other desserts.
Beers and hops from Enegren Brewing Company, also in the Alley, appear in its honey vanilla “Lagertha” cupcake with hoppy mosaic grapefruit buttercream and sugared rosemary, and chocolate cupcake with maple buttercream and Baltic maple caramel. An ube cupcake with mango buttercream and toasted coconut was created with new friend Phyllis Masaya of Masarap Lumpia, a Filipino catering company based in Oxnard.
Pairings with Merry Makers Cocktail Company have included a Baileys chocolate cupcake with espresso mocha buttercream paired with the “Whale of a Time” espresso Martini with mint cream mixer, and a green velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting paired with a SoCal honey sour apple mixer.
Its “Puckered Pooch” cookie was created in collaboration with Paw Works Animal Rescue—a lavender lemon sugar cookie dipped in white chocolate with lemon zest and lavender buds—and sold at pop-ups at its pet adoption center in the Oaks Mall, with 10% of sales going to the organization.
Jay is methodical and exacting, which comes in handy with his day job as a consultant for a software company, but says his confidence in baking also comes from this analytical approach, along with tireless research and experimentation in the kitchen.
“Sometimes I come up with a crazy idea. He’ll say ‘We can’t do that,’ and I’ll say ‘Yes we can,’ and he’ll keep trying,” says Jenn. “Jay makes everything come to life with his baking.”
Several of Honey and the Hive’s products are rooted in Jenn’s home state of Maine and created by Jay from her memories. A blueberry pancake cupcake with maple buttercream and bacon sprinkles was inspired by her family’s lakeside pancake breakfasts; and The Rooster, a ginger molasses cookie, pays homage to a specialty food store housed in a charming Victorian building along the Penobscot River.
Jenn’s boldness in forging relationships and Jay’s bravery in the kitchen make Honey and the Hive stand out in the crowd. The business is also family-, woman- and Black-owned. The Chapmans have three children and run the business out of their home in Moorpark. Jay does the baking in the company of various other local chefs, bakers and creators at Summit Kitchen, a co-op kitchen in Ventura.
For more information visit HoneyAndTheHiveBakery.com.
