Unique Pastries Bring Wellness to the Winter Farmers Market
Ashlee Bishop offers herb-infused baked goods with a side of self care.
Sage sugar cookies. Photo courtesy of Ashlee Bishop.
Each week at the Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market, Ashlee Bishop piles her table with herb-infused baked goods. From flaky biscuits flavored with rosemary and drizzled with raspberry glaze to crisp sugar cookies with a kick of sage, the ever-changing lineup shifts seasonally.
With a plot at Alice’s Garden, Bishop cultivates herbs like basil, rosemary and lemon verbena, ensuring her ingredients travel directly from garden soil to market table — infused with months of care from seed to sale day.
“It’s a farm-to-table opportunity,” she said. “So if I can’t grow it here, I’m not going to use it.”
Customers leave with full bellies and bags heavy with pastries, but what Bishop is truly selling is less tangible: contentment, belonging and self love.
“I hope you feel a sense of wholesomeness after having an herbal infusion experience, I hope you find joy in life from the sweetness and the treats, and I hope you are grounded in community from the principles and integrity that the business stands on,” she said.
Herbal Baked Goods, soon to be rebranded as Baked Botanica, operates under the umbrella of Bishop’s lifestyle brand, Unapologetic Self Care, which launched in the wake of the pandemic. What began as a retail business focused on wellness has evolved into a multifaceted operation encouraging overall well-being.
Bishop entered the market circuit in 2020, selling fresh-pressed juices and baked goods — though not yet herb-infused — with her mom at Fondy farmers market. As the business grew, Bishop flourished in her own self-love journey, connecting with like-minded individuals through her work.
“I was starting to feel at home … I fit into the puzzle, if you will. I think I kind of found my spot.”
The new friendships sparked adventures like yoga, karaoke and firing up an outdoor pizza oven. But most important were the trips to Alice’s Garden, where Bishop discovered a passion for gardening.
The crossover of homegrown herbs and baking proved to be a “perfect marriage,” blending the therapeutic benefits of both gardening and baking.
“It was the niche I needed,” she said, noting that herbal infusions — via butters, oils, salt and sugar — have the ability to completely transform a recipe.
“The world is an oyster when you’re in the kitchen.”
Bishop’s secret lies in combining savory herbs with traditionally sweet items, yielding flavors like thyme tea cookies, lemongrass loaf, mint-mango sorbet, basil blueberry baklava and others.
“I think that the uniqueness of it all is in is the intrigue,” she said. “It’s based on the abundance that the Earth gives me.”
Bishop has no business partner, but her daughter is her sidekick — and an “excellent saleswoman” to boot.
“She’ll tell people, ‘my mom’s a vendor. We have sage sugar cookies and rosemary raspberry biscuits. You should try some,'” Bishop said with a laugh. “Like, perfect pitch. We haven’t rehearsed a thing.”
And while she’s been a great help, Bishop said she’s most proud of the lessons her daughter is learning through proximity to the business. “Just seeing how my efforts are instilling wholesome values in her, what this all means to her and how proud she is, that’s an added bonus.”
Unapologetic Self Care arose from Bishop’s desire to rewrite the narrative surrounding self care.
“For the longest time, internally, I felt like self care was selfish,” she said. “I don’t know if that’s from being a woman or a mom or a trailblazer in my family. But at this point, I’m unapologetic about who I am and how I care for myself. I’m my own priority — if I’m not important to me, I won’t be important to anyone else.”
Bishop advertises events and appearances on her business’s Facebook page; followers can expect updates and adjustments as the concept continues to grow and evolve.
Her baked goods are currently available on a weekly basis at the Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market, held Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Table, 5305 W. Capitol Dr. The market continues through April 19.
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