Sara Spudowski, the Dessert Queen of Sugar- Spoon, is fighting the urge to wrinkle her nose.
She's working on recipes for sugar-free pastries that the dessert boutique she co-owns with Tom Bunger and Angie Alkire will start serving April 1.
Spudowski is adding sugar-free items because customers want them -- and keeping the customer satisfied is part of her business model.
"It changes the way that I cook," she says. "I don't really work from recipes -- I put batches together by touch and taste, and that sugar-free taste ... I'm just not used to it."
Alkire, who spends most of the store's hours of operation there with Spudowski, can only laugh at that.
"Sarah likes sugar. And butter. And cream -- all the good stuff," she says with a laugh.
When Spudowski and Bunger first starting talking about teaming up on a new business, his idea was a coffee shop.
"Why?" asked Spudowski. "What would make us different? There are tons of coffee shops."
She urged her would-be partner -- a computer-network specialist with no experience in the food industry -- to look at Barnes & Noble Booksellers.
"Coffee shops in Anchorage open early and close early. So if you go to Barnes & Noble at night, it's jampacked." And not just because of late-night literary-mindedness, she says. "People go there for coffee and sweets -- there's almost nowhere else to go."
By Jan. 15, Spudowski and Alkire -- who had previously worked together -- were baking up a sweet storm at SugarSpoon.
"We're a dessert shop that serves coffee, not the other way around," Alkire says.
People still wonder why the shop doesn't open earlier for breakfast and why there isn't a lunch menu, but a steady clientele suggests that the idea of SugarSpoon is catching on. It's usually bustling from 9 to 11 p.m., suggesting that a certain bookstore has lost its monopoly on late-night munchers with a sweet tooth.
At opening time, there is at least one quichelike tart available that makes a quick breakfast. But they're not planning on doing full breakfasts or sandwiches. "You can get that in plenty of other places," Alkire says.
From the start, they planned to offer catering and wholesale pricing, and they've already got more requests than they can handle from restaurants.
"Most chefs are focused on savory items," Spudowski says. "Keeping up with sweets at the same time is a hassle."
And baking requires a mind-set different from that of stovetop chefs: "Good chefs like to cook fast and loose," she says, "not measuring, but feeling and tasting and adapting as they go."
Baking desserts can be a fussier process: Get the ratio of baking powder out of whack, and you can't fix it -- you throw the cake away, she says. That said, since she's baking all the time and not switching back and forth, she rarely follows a linear recipe herself.
Besides planning desserts for customers who want sugar-free goodies, the staff prepares a couple of flourless items every day.
"Every week, something different seems to be the favorite," Spudowski says. "Our peanut butter and jelly pyramid (layered peanut butter mousse, raspberry jelly and chocolate cake bottom with caramelized banana and chocolate sauce) was the hottest thing going for a while. Then there were two days in a row when we didn't seem to sell any of it. And we had these bananas on hand -- suddenly, lots of bananas." So Spudowski created a coco-banana cake on the spot, and suddenly that was the hot item.
A dessert specialty story might suggest cakes festooned with decorations, but that's not where this kitchen is going.
"Our goal is to spend more on quality ingredients, less on decorating," Spudowski says. "That may give some of our cakes a more rustic look," a handmade style that gives the shop a European aura.
And the commitment to sugar, real butter and real cream gives customers plenty of reason to lick their lips.
• Play dining reviewer Mike Peters can be reached at mpeters@adn.com.
SugarSpoon
Location: 2601 Spenard Road (near Fireweed)
Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday
Phone: 337-9338
Web: www.aksugarspoon.com
What's on the menu
Made-to-order items: Six specialty desserts ($6.50 each), including profiteroles, an intriguing cornmeal crumb cake with buttermilk semifreddo and blueberry sauce, and a creme brulee that some fans say stands up to the best in Anchorage.
Cakes, by the slice ($2.25-$4.75) or whole (varies): Lemon Sunshine, Pina Colada, Caramel Apple and Tropical Carrot are popular, but there's more chatter at nearby tables about the Mocchaccino. "We can't make enough of it," says co-owner Angie Alkire.
Other individual desserts: Pies and tarts by the slice, raspberry jam bars, cookies, "mega" mocha brownies and butter tarts. ($2-$3)
Beverages: Coffee bar items, tea, hot chocolate.
For kids
Kupcakes and Kids Day every Wednesday: Kids get a cupcake and a specialty steamer beverage ($4), and adults with the party get a beverage for half price.
Coming up
April 1: Sugar-free desserts
May 1: SugarSpoon desserts featured at Bear Tooth
By Mike Peters
mpeters@adn.com