Miami’s free bookstore celebrates a milestone with a literary bake-off in Wynwood

The competition was hot. The air was humid. Hopeful bakers donned their aprons as quippy hosts and perceptive judges eyed the fruits of their labor.

A meringue sculpture of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” A carrot cake sporting the iconic Bowler hat and piercing eyes of “A Clockwork Orange.” The Life of Key Lime Pi. The Pie on Mango Street. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Scones. And a spot-on recreation of the giant chocolate cake from “Matilda.”

The audience was hungry. The stakes were low. And the winner was a 12-year-old girl whose apron was too big for her.

“Welcome to The Great Bookleggers Birthday Bake-Off at Bakehouse!” the hosts said to an audience of over 100 book lovers.

Bookleggers Library, a nonprofit free bookstore located in Wynwood artist studio space Bakehouse Art Complex, celebrated its 12th anniversary Saturday afternoon with a bake-off competition inspired by the beloved TV show “The Great British Baking Show.”

For every $25 donation, Bookleggers staff added a candle to its birthday cake with a goal of 100 candles. With some last minute help from the audience, Bookleggers beat its goal with 101 candles, raising over $2,000. Throughout the afternoon, Bookleggers gave away 300 free books.

“It brings me so much pride that so many people care and that [Bookleggers] has grown into a community resource,” said Nathaniel Sandler, the Bookleggers founding director and one of the bake-off hosts. “It’s become something the community cares about. To see the place so alive was really special.”

Bookleggers’ story started in 2012, back when libraries faced budgetary threats and book stores were closing en masse, Sandler said. The “no-kill shelter for books” takes in used, unwanted and unneeded books to save them from the trash heap and share them with the masses with creative events. Over the years, Bookleggers has rescued books from across South Florida, like when it received palettes of books from the Miami Herald’s now-demolished office building.

“We’re trying to keep history alive, culture alive and books alive,” Sandler said.

Every year, Sandler said, Bookleggers celebrates its birthday in a unique way. Staff had been itching to host a bake-off event for years, especially given the Bakehouse building’s history as a bakery. Besides the bake-off, the birthday celebration included a free baking-themed figure drawing session hosted by Raw Figs, free pizza from local pizza joint Yeti’s and free beer from local brewery Off Site.

Similarly to the TV show, the birthday bake-off featured two loveable, joke-cracking hosts in Sandler and award-winning local filmmaker Monica Sorelle, and a panel of distinguished judges from Miami’s food world: El Bagel owner Matteson Koche, Zak the Baker pastry chef Desiree Di Falco and The Infatuation Miami editor Ryan Pfeffer.

A dozen bookish bakers brought their cakes, pies and pastries to the competition, with literary references ranging from childhood favorites to dystopian thrillers. The audience ooh-ed and ahh-ed as the bakers showed off their work.

First up was Rosie Castaldo’s “The Particular Sadness of a Focaccia,” inspired by the book “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.” Castaldo decorated the bread with roasted vegetables she got from a farmer’s market and mentioned that her father is an Italian chef. Sorelle asked if Castaldo was born with a baking gene.

“It’s not ‘born with the gene,’ it’s more like a lot of pressure,” she said, laughing.

Several bakers were inspired by family members. Baker Gabrielle Montes de Oca made her mom’s tres leches recipe for the first time and used icing to draw The Three Musketeers on top with her girlfriend. The result: The Tres Lecheteers. She had never seen the movie or read the book, but “the pun worked.”

“First of all, tell your mom great job,” Pfeffer said during the judge’s critiques. “Also, respect for admitting you didn’t read the book. More of us need to do that.”

Gina Salvatore’s “The Pie on Mango Street,” inspired by “The House on Mango Street,” was made with mangoes from her friend’s tree. The pie was a touching tribute to her father, who loved to bake. After he passed away last year, Salvatore said she started experimenting with her grandmother’s handwritten cookbook recipes. The judges applauded her pie’s flavor and decoration.

In the end, the judges selected three bakers to win. Third place got El Bagel and Bookleggers merchandise, second place got a gift certificate for Zak The Baker and first got a free croissant baking lesson at Flour & Weirdoughs.

The third place spot went to 18-year-old Mia Arrow’s “James and the Giant Peach Cobbler,” which the judges called perfectly moist and crunchy.

In second place was Tegan Mahford’s “A Carrotcake Orange,” a sweet cake inspired by the not-so-sweet “A Clockwork Orange.” Mahford said the recipe was her great great aunt Jane’s from the 1910s. Mahford recently learned her grandmother accidentally wrote down the recipe incorrectly, which means the family has been making it wrong for over 40 years. But, she said, it didn’t taste as good when she tried making it “the right way,” so she stuck with her grandma’s version.

Pfeffer complimented the cake’s “violent piercing gaze.”

“I mean this is a compliment because it means you understood the assignment and your literary tie-ins were on point,” he said. “Your cake makes me deeply uncomfortable.”

The coveted first place prize went to crowd-favorite Miranda Irribarra, the 12-year-old baker who recreated “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” entirely out of meringue. Miranda was pleasantly surprised to win first place and said she thought the carrot cake would take the top spot. The judges were impressed by the seventh grader’s presentation and her high quality meringues, which she learned how to make with her mom.

“Honestly, I did not think I would win,” Miranda said. “I had great competition.”

Her dessert was inspired by her love for “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” a book she read so often as a 4-year-old she memorized it. These days, Miranda loves to bake and read the “Weird But True!” series to learn new things. Now, she said she’s looking forward to the baking lesson to finally learn how to make croissants.

Sandler said it remains to be seen if Bookleggers will host another bake-off in the future, though the group is open if the community wants it. In true birthday party fashion, the Bookleggers staff lit the cake’s 101 candles, resembling a small forest fire on a football field, as the crowd sang happy birthday.

Miranda encouraged more people to explore the culinary arts. “Have fun baking!”

This story was produced with financial support from individuals and Berkowitz Contemporary Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.

This story was originally published July 16, 2024 at 8:23 AM.