DINING FEATURE
BY KAREN CHANEY
BALL’S MUST TRY MENU ITEMS 1 Cranberry orange tart ($7): An orange shortbread crust is lled with cranberry custard and topped with candied orange slices and sugared rosemary. 2 Mushroom and goat cheese quiche ($7.50): A custardy egg lling surrounds sautéed mushrooms and goat cheese baked inside a aky, all- butter crust. 3 Winter citrus kouign amann ($5): A aky, handmade pu pastry is coated in sugar and lled with pomelo and mango curd.
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Kelly Ball opened Leila Bakery and Café in Lakewood in 2020.
PHOTOS BY KAREN CHANEY COMMUNITY IMPACT
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Leila Bakery and Café Neighborhood bakery in Lakewood is known for its aky pastries K elly Ball said she sur- prised herself when she rst jumped at the chance
In February 2020, she opened her rst brick-and-mortar store- front in the Lakewood area and changed the business name to Leila Bakery and Café. She said she chose to honor the kind spirit of her husband’s aunt by naming the business after her. “I’m more comfortable with this [name], because Naturally Curly Cook references me, which is OK, but I don’t thrive on that kind of attention,” Ball said. “Now that we’re here, it’s a lot more than me. We have a lot of chefs who bring creativity here.” Ball said although their
had so many inquiries for cakes. Finally, I said, ‘This is stupid,’ and started making cakes.” Ball said some of Leila Bakery Café’s must-try menu items include the cranberry orange tart, the mushroom and goat cheese quiche, and the winter citrus kouign amann. A kouign amann is a multilayered cake that originated in France. “We spend a lot of time making laminated pastries,” she said. Ball explained that lamination is the process of folding the butter into the dough, which results in an abundance of aky layers. “We make ours by hand and spend quite a bit of time doing that,” she said. Ball is very grateful for Leila Bakery and Café’s customers, some she has known since her farmers market days and many who make weekly appearances. Ball said the business even keeps some dog treats for customers who visit with their four-legged companions. After a recent storm caused a 30-hour power outage that wiped out half Leila’s inventory, a daily customer discreetly left a check to help the business recover. “He didn’t make a show of it or acknowledge it,” Ball said. “It cov- ered our deductible to the penny.”
to become an entrepreneur. “I very much thought I would have a normal job with a salary, but I could never gure out what that should be,” she said. She credits nding an a nity for baking pastries while working at a co ee shop and meeting a new, eclectic friend group as being key ingredients to her new career path. “I was meeting people who were really creative, not mainstream … [people
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like] dancers, musicians and entrepreneurs,” she said. “Seeing people who were approaching life in a di erent way than I ever
I VERY MUCH THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE A NORMAL JOB WITH A SALARY, BUT I COULD NEVER FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT SHOULD BE. KELLY BALL, OWNER
quiches and kolaches are the cafe’s bread and butter, they have many other options, such as mu ns,
Leila Bakery and Café 6041 Oram St., Dallas 972 807-6297 www.leilabakery.com Hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. daily
thought you could helped
scones, pies, tarts, salads, soups, co ee and more. Ball said over time, the menu has expanded by adding cakes. “When we rst opened I only wanted to do carrot cake,” she said. “I learned quickly you can’t have a bakery and not do cakes. We
me get comfort- able and accept that I can do something I enjoy for work.” In 2014, she launched Naturally Curly Cook, a business where she baked items in a commercial kitchen and sold them at local farmers markets.
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LAKE HIGHLANDS LAKEWOOD EDITION • FEBRUARY 2023
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