Ballon Rouge: Your Neighborhood Online Bakery

Online Baking!

When you’re thinking of buying a cake or cookies for a special event, like a birthday or anniversary, where do you go? To a local bakery? The supermarket? What about the World Wide Web? Well, Jackie DeDonder and Wenny Ro, co-owners of Ballon Rouge Bakery, hope you choose the latter.


A World of New Flavor Combinations

Ballon [French spelling for balloon] Rouge Bakery allows residents in the South Loop and surrounding areas, to special order cakes and cookies online. Launched in March of 2010, with a vision to introduce people to flavor combinations that borrow from French, Asian, and American baking traditions. Without a brick-and-mortar outlet, Ballon Rouge depends on word of mouth and special events like the Toast of the South Loop to market their business.

Food Network, Here We Come!

Co-owners Wenny and Jackie met at Kendall College and both have degrees specializing in French pastry baking. Wenny grew up in Chicago and is currently working as a nurse specializing in the neonatal field. She always enjoyed baking in her spare time and her dream is to participate “in one of those cake competitions” on the Food Network channel. Jackie has lived in Chicago for two years. She has worked in an artisan bakery as well as grocery store bakeries. Those experiences inspired her to attend Kendall College and earn a certificate in pastry and baking.

Tradition With a Twist

Due to their different ethnic backgrounds, Wenny and Jackie love to “create unique flavor combinations, such as ginger, honey, and green tea.” They also like to put their own “twist on traditional recipes…making them lighter in texture and level of sweetness.”

No Store, No Problem!

Just because Wenny and Jackie don’t have a traditional storefront bakery doesn’t mean your choices are limited or inconvenient. Ballon Rouge offers a wide variety of cakes, cookies, and cupcakes, as well as home delivery in the South Loop and surrounding areas. For more information on Ballon Rouge, their pastries and cakes, please check out their Web site.