Another popular pop-up has successfully turned their dreams into reality.

Bake Sum opened their brick and mortar in Oakland in 2021 and I would pass by the bakery all the time. Their pastries are heavily Asian inspired and could be comparable to Sunday Bakeshop which is also in Oakland. We came mid afternoon on a Sunday and they were out of two savory pastries (green onion croissant and garlic cheesy pull-apart) and their cookies (black sesame snickerdoodle, chocolate chunk, and cocobae) which was a little disappointing because I would have loved to try those.

However they did still have an array of items and of course we had to get a bunch to sample.

Strawberry Matcha Bun (7.5-8/10), Ispahan Cake (8/10), Classic Croissant (8-8.5/10), Croissubi (8.5/10), and Okonomiyaki Danish (8.5/10).

Both the croissubi and their okonomiyaki danish were my favorites out of this bunch. The croissbi was a savory croissant stuffed with a thinly sliced piece of spam wrapped in nori in the middle. The okonomoyaki danish had all the classic flavors of the Japanese street food with kewpie mayonnaise and bonito flakes. The classic croissant was solid with beautifully laminated layers. The strawberry matcha bun, basically a cruffin (hybrid of a croissant and muffin), didn’t get a higher score only for the fact that there was zero strawberry flavor. The middle was stuffed with a luscious intense matcha cream which I enjoyed and I liked the small dollop of meringue on top. Lastly the ispahan cake had layers of spongecake with raspberry, rose cream, and fresh lychee. This was something that I’ve never had but the flavors were light and delicate.

Almond Cake (8/10), Chocolate Banana Croissant (8.5/10), Jasmine Tea Milk Bun (6.5-7/10), and Lilikoi Mochi Bite (7/10).

Moving on to the other box, my favorite out of this round was the chocolate banana twice baked croissant. The almond bake (hidden behind the croissant) was reminiscent of a poundcake. While I liked the chewy texture of the mochi bite, the lilikoi flavor was a little subtle for my liking as I was looking for that intense passionfruit tang. My least favorite of all the pastries was the jasmine tea milk bun which is strange because I typically love tea flavored desserts. Maybe I would have preferred the pandan flavor?

Overall Bake Sum had some stunning pastries with a twist so my rating is an 8/10.