The Milk Chocolate Cakes features “next to flourless” Milk Chocolate Sponge Cake which is layered with Chocolate Mousse and Toasted Hazelnuts. Her famous “Zebra” includes White Chocolate Mousse layered with Chocolate Cake and Raspberries. While still another signature features Banana Foster Cake, a banana cake laden with orange brandy and caramel cream.

For Coe, though, creating such sweetness is in part a work of art and part a connection back to her childhood in Virginia where she learned to make things from scratch by her grandmother and created her first cake in her mother’s kitchen at the age of twelve.

“I made my first wedding cake when I was twelve for a family member’s wedding,” says Tammie. “After that experience, I started taking cake decorating classes, watching Julia Childs, reading all the magazines. It was something I loved. I was hooked.”

After graduating from high school, Coe went to the Johnson and Wales Culinary school in Rhode Island and received her degree in Pastry and Baking Arts. After finishing the two-year course, Coe then entered and completed the Advanced Standing Course in Pastry, where she learned many of her signature pastry treats.

Culinary school proved to be advantageous for other reasons besides the pastry training, as it was there where she met her future husband, Michael John (MJ). At the time, MJ was a fellow bakery student and now he is one of the youngest Certified Master Bakers in the country.

After spending time in Florida and Wyoming, working at such places as The Breakers in Palm Beach and The Ritz Carlton in Naples, the two came to Arizona to seek out their culinary fortunes.

Since arriving in Arizona, Tammie has always taken chances and followed her instincts to place herself at the forefront of the culinary scene. In the late 90s, she worked at the culinary hotspot Michael’s at the Citadel, and then, a few years later when an ordinary strip mall in the beautiful Arcadia district in Phoenix was renovated into a hip market, grocery and pizzeria titled La Grande Orange, Tammie joined the team and sold her unique pastry offerings. At the same time, MJ supplied the space with his signature creations, his artisan breads, which include French loaves, olive bread, croissants, foccacia, and cibatta.

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