Grove Pastry Shop: Still Whipping Cream After 56 Years

Last week I talked cake and ice cream; this week cake and history. Once you get your sweet tooth started, it’s hard to stop. Who can resist whipped cream cake and Lemon Grove history? Not me.

After the , the next most famous site in town has to be the Grove Pastry Shop. Not only is it one of the oldest businesses, the current location is historically the city’s center. The Lemon Grove Store (later the Sonka Brothers General Store) was built here in 1891 to offer merchandise to the new community of ranchers and farmers. It was the gathering spot for all things, including the mail. The original wooden store was torn down in 1912, and replaced with the Mission Revival structure you see today. The side of the building now displays the city’s .

The pastry shop itself has an interesting history. The Ohlund family emigrated from Sweden to Lemon Grove in 1949. They bought an existing local bakery in 1955, and started making their signature whipped cream cakes.

The family moved the business to its present location in 1980, replacing a waterbed store that was occupying the historic building. I remember that place—this writer, in the late '70s, bought an overpriced, king-size, carved oak monstrosity of a waterbed there. It even had steps you had to climb up to get into bed. Those were the daze.

The Ohlund family still owns the building, and leases the space to current Grove Pastry Shop owner Teresa Johnson. Johnson is no stranger to the baking world. For 25 years she owned the Alpine Bread Basket, and currently runs Teresa’s Baking Company, a wholesale bread distributor, in addition to the Grove Pastry Shop. This is one busy lady.

“We work very hard to carry on the unique and excellent tradition of quality baking that the Ohlund family created at the Grove Pastry Shop,” said Johnson.

Seems to me they have taken it up a notch, keeping the traditional favorites while expanding their repertoire of cakes. The bakery currently offers 12 house specialties, ranging from the gold-standard whipped cream cake to the new addition tiramisu.

Johnson said the shop’s 30 employees bake and decorate more than 300 cakes each week on average. This does not include the breads, Danish pastries, cupcakes, lemon bars (really good!), cookies, muffins, and other treats that make the shop smell like my imagined heaven. You can enjoy the goods at tables inside or outside, and there is a coffee bar for your visit.

The Grove Pastry Shop offers “custom cakery,” creating your dream in sponge cake and frosting. Key employee Carol McGonegal told me they often get offbeat requests. The latest is for a Norwegian circle cake, or kransekake. My grandmother was from Norway, and she used to make a pretty mean version—it’s an almond paste cone cake of larger to smaller rings forming a pyramid, decorated with marzipan fruits, for special occasions.

Johnson said she is most proud of a recently-created cake replica of the USS Carl Vinson, for a party for the families of the crew. The Navy ship design took thirteen sheet cakes, and more than 20 hours to complete.

is located at 3308 Main Street, between Broadway and Pacific Avenue in the heart of Lemon Grove. You can visit them at their website, or call them at 619-466-3277 to place an order. The store hours are: 6 a.m.–6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 7 a.m.–2 p.m. Sunday. They also offer catering and delivery.