Just American Desserts has not only survived but thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic largely thanks to its loyal customer base, claims Eva Roberts, owner of the business.

Customers helped the bakery, located in Spokane Valley at 213 S. University, survive the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by buying Just American Desserts products at local grocery stores and by continuing to place orders, Roberts says. The bakery’s products can be found at Huckleberry’s Natural Market, Egger’s Better Meats, and My Fresh Basket.

“Though I lost all of my hotels, catering, restaurants, and all the weddings, my retail quadrupled,” she says.

The store has also faced shortages of certain ingredients, Roberts says.

“My chocolate provider had to close one of their factories because of COVID a while back,” she says. “When they got back up and running, I ordered five times what I normally order, just so I had some backup. I can’t have my bakery without chocolate.”

Staffing has also been a problem. Roberts says she’s had to call some former employees out of retirement to help with the volume of orders the bakery receives. There are currently 14 employees at Just American Desserts; Roberts says she’s looking to hire at least two more.

As certain pandemic-related restrictions have been lifted, the volume of orders has increased, leading to a larger workload for each employee, Roberts says.

“All of the restaurants are starting back up. Weddings are coming back, and I’m getting more orders,” she says.

Some restaurants can’t staff up enough to make all of their own desserts, Roberts says, so they turn to Just American Desserts to supplement their menu.

“I’m not going to turn down any business, ever. I don’t care if I never sleep,” she says. “In 35 years, I’ve been through Desert Storm, ice storms, windstorms, stock crashes, recessions. You name it, I’ve been through it. A pandemic was just one more obstacle, and I’m still here.”

Roberts says she’s seen a noticeable spike in business since she appeared in December on the Food Network’s “Holiday Baking Championship.” She made it to the final round of the televised baking competition, ultimately placing fourth.

“They had us in quarantine for a week before the show filmed, and there was this point when I thought, ‘what am I doing here?’” Roberts says. “During each challenge, you’ve got two camera operators on you the whole time, one basically swinging from the ceiling. It was a fun experience, but I don’t know that I’d be champing at the bit to do it again.”

Roberts says her appearance on the show had a significant positive effect on demand.

“People come in just to meet me,” she says. “There’s an age group of young girls--probably from ages 10 to 12, that love the baking shows, and their parents will bring them in.”

Despite the bakery’s longevity in Spokane Valley and Roberts’ success on Holiday Baking Championship, Roberts says she has no plans to expand.

“I think we’re very franchisable, if that’s the direction I wanted to take, just because everything is so tried-and-true in terms of recipes and the way everything is run,” she says. “But I’m not at that age that I want to take it to another level. I’m just enjoying what I’m doing now, dealing with my customers and the chefs and others in the industry.”

Roberts has owned Just American Desserts for 35 years, and she says she has no intention of slowing down.

The 62-year-old says she started baking as a child.

“My mother had a 1950s ‘Betty Crocker’s Cookbook,’ and I just started going through the book and making everything,” Roberts says. “I liked the dessert section, but I never thought about doing it as a career.”

About 40 years ago, Roberts was a stay-at-home mom when an ad for a weekend pastry chef at Patsy Clark’s restaurant caught her eye. She says she thought the job would be fun, so she applied, baked a chocolate fudge cake, and brought it to the general manager at the job interview. She was hired, but soon after, the existing full-time pastry chef left the restaurant. Patsy Clark’s had only been open for a few weeks, Roberts says.

“So, I got the whole program, 350 servings of dessert a night,” she says. “I learned quickly--trial by fire.” 

Roberts says her time at Patsy Clark’s provided on-the-job training, but she didn’t have any formal training or education in baking.

“After I’d been at Patsy’s for a couple of years, I thought, we should start our own business; how hard can it be?” Roberts says. “Originally, it was my mom and my sister and me.”

The three started Just American Desserts in 1986 in a space near University Road and Sprague Avenue, just a few blocks north of the bakery’s current location.

Roberts says they’d intended to call the store Just Desserts, but a bakery in California had claimed the name within that state. Roberts chose to include the word American as a nod to the classic desserts “like grandma used to make,” she says.

In 2000, the three owners decided to build a 7,100-square-foot building with three suites. The move gave the company twice the space for operations, as well as revenue from leasing the other two spaces, which are currently occupied by Valley Physical Therapy and Cool Beans Coffee.

Roberts says her mother has since retired and her sister has moved on to other business interests. Roberts is now the sole owner.

One of the highlights of her career was winning an Agora Award for Best Small Business from Greater Spokane Incorporated in 2009, Roberts says.

“That meant a lot to me,” she says.

In the years since she started Just American Desserts, the menu has changed little. Her top menu item is difficult to choose, she says, but the sour cream coconut cake--a sour cream white cake base with a coconut custard and coconut topping--is one of her all-time favorites.

“I’ll switch out a few things every now and then, but for the most part, people want the traditional stuff,” she says.

Classics such as tuxedo cake, almond poppy seed cake, black forest cake, and spice cookies have remained fan favorites throughout the years, Roberts adds.

The customers have also remained largely the same.

“They’re loyal clientele,” Roberts says. “I’m doing wedding cakes now for people whose parents’ wedding cake I baked.

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