Ainslie Lane Cookie Studio & Lorraine Hitchcock’s Kitchen Soirées: Three Generations of Fine Food & Fun

I t’s a refrain that business owner and home baker Katie Wood hears frequently when people see the stunning cookies she bakes from scratch and elevates to an art form with her endless array of joyful frosted designs. Indeed, the treats are gorgeous, but saving them for decoration would mean missing out on their exquisite flavor and tender perfection, evidence they really are freshly home made from the finest ingredients.

A culinary artist in her own right, Katie comes from a family of hands-on gourmets. Her mother, Lorraine Hitchcock, owned Beyond Pots and Pans in Stockton for 15 years, where she sold fine kitchen goods and offered a variety of cooking classes. Katie’s brother, John, is a graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, or CIA, in Hyde Park, New York, and has a background as an executive chef. Her daughter, Kyler, has over ten years’ experience as a professional waitress in addition to teaching the art of hand lettering to personalize cookies and desserts.

Established Trust
When it came to turning her talent into a business, Katie shared, “I learned the importance of relationships from seeing my mom run an ethical business and seeing customers return again and again.” Like her mom’s customers, Katie’s customers have been with her for decades, many of them ordering custom-decorated cookies for every occasion and celebration. “I’m so lucky I have the best customers who trust me with whatever theme they need and place orders with me year after year.”

Katie remembers when she first discovered her passion for decorating cookies and how it led to opening Ainslie Lane Cookie Studio. “When my mom had the store and the cooking school, someone came to teach cookie decorating at one of our classes. This was before there was internet or social media so it just wasn’t something I’d really seen before, but I fell in love with it and I knew immediately that I had my own vision of how I wanted to my cookies to look.” It wasn’t long before she mastered the techniques and was teaching classes herself. In 2012, encouraged by a friend, Katie got her license to sell baked goods. “It’s what a lot of home cooks and bakers do in order to sell their homemade items. It turned out that getting a Cottage Food License was affordable and very doable,” she shared.

Family Fun
While Katie is the only one who frosts the cookies, her family lends a hand during busy holiday seasons. Her son, Carson, husband, Brandon, and daughter, Kyler, assist, mixing dough, packaging cookies and organizing pickups. Over the years Kyler discovered her own unique talent for hand lettering the cookies using edible ink markers to write names, dates or meaningful quotes. “People love personalized cookies!” she beamed. Like her mom and grandmother, Kyler now teaches the art of hand lettering to classrooms full of eager students.

In addition to Kyler’s hand lettering instruction, Katie happily shares her baking and decorating secrets by teaching cookie decorating classes. The gatherings are held regularly at Oak Farm Vineyards, Calivines Winery and other locations. “The classes are so fun and social, with many people coming to our cookie class every single month even if they never make them at home,” Katie laughed. “I’ve truly become dear friends with many customers whether they are ordering cookies, attending classes, or both.” Katie is also available to teach private cookie decorating classes; a calendar of events can be found on the Ainslie Lane Cookie Studio website.

Lorraine’s Soirées
Thanks to these special classes, Lorraine finds that certain items are always in great demand. The Silpat Perfect Pastry mat is a top seller because it requires no flour to roll out dough, as is the Silat Perforated Silicone Baking mat because it ensures crispy baked goods. Other must-have items include tipless frosting bags and clips, edible food markers, microplanes and rolling pins. “And once people try our beautiful Australian food colors for their frostings and the Premium Blend Meringue Powder, they never want to use anything else,” she added.

Despite closing Beyond Pots and Pans years ago, Lorraine keeps its spirit burning brightly via her frequent Kitchen Parties, also known as Kitchen Soirées. Akin to a cooking class, Kitchen Soirées are home gatherings during which she demonstrates top-tier ingredients, tools, techniques and recipes. “Our theme is Gather, Cook, Taste, Toast and Shop,” she elaborated. As a wine ambassador for the world-famous Jean-Charles Boisset Collection, Lorraine also presents special wine and food pairings and gives soirée hosts and their guests the inside scoop on achieving the joie de vivre everyone wants when entertaining.

“I am very devoted to curating the highest-quality and most reliable kitchenware and pantry items for my customers,” Lorraine said. “Almost every tool or piece of equipment I carry is made either in America or in Europe. I would rather sell nothing than sell something that disappoints or doesn’t last,” she confided. Among her offerings are cookware by Hestan, inspired by Chef Thomas Keller and used exclusively in his restaurants, French porcelain bakeware by Pillivuyt, an array of fine olive oils, vanilla, French mustards and specialty salts and peppers. Besides the fun of gathering to try out a variety of kitchen items, part of the allure for hosts is the 10 percent discount they receive on all purchases for a full year afterward. After all, nothing says “let’s throw a party” like food, wine, friends and fabulous sale prices.

Find ainslielanecookiestudio on Instagram or visit the website, ainslielanecookiestudio.com, to book a cookie decorating class. To schedule a Kitchen Soirée, email lorraine@beyondpotsandpans.com.