New head baker of Vancouver’s Rosycakes brings bit of Vegas to creations

Brittnee Klinger, the new head baker and manager of Rosycakes, brings a bit of the sparkle, glam and decadence of her hometown of Las Vegas to Vancouver.

When she appeared on the June 15 episode of the Food Network’s “Big Time Bake,” she described herself this way: “I’m a little bit Elvira rolled up in sprinkles and glitter.”

Klinger may have been describing her personality but the description seems apt for the striking goth glam goodies she made on the show, like a black macaron with a small vial of blood red berry syrup tucked into the cookie.

Klinger isn’t new to the Food Network. Freed’s, the bakery in Los Vegas where she rose from answering phones to decorating cakes, was featured on a series called “Vegas Cakes.” She is, however, new to Vancouver.

Klinger and her husband, Michael, recently relocated here to reunite with family members. Michael landed a job as a chocolatier at Moonstruck Chocolates in Portland and Brittnee is taking over Rosycakes on Grand Avenue and Evergreen next to Paper Tiger Coffee Roasters.

“I was told we have to have cinnamon rolls,” Klinger said as she talked about her plans for the bakery.

But Klinger’s true love is cakes. She plans on regularly stocking the bakery with 6-inch birthday cakes in traditional flavors like vanilla and chocolate along with some of her own creations — a salted caramel crunch cake with white chocolate-covered pretzels mixed into a buttercream drizzle and a chocolate chip cake layered with chocolate chip cookie dough filling. She’s using coffee from her neighbor, Paper Tiger Coffee Roasters, in a reduction for her PT Mocha cake.

In addition to these grab-and-go cakes, Klinger is hoping to build up a custom cake business.

“I want this to be the place where people come for high-end wedding cakes in the Pacific Northwest,” she said.

Her personal style tends to black cakes and skulls with delicate pink and red roses.

“If I had to choose, I’d do dark pretty things,” she said.

But given that she spent almost a decade decorating cakes at a fast-paced Las Vegas bakery, she can easily create any style of cake.

She particularly likes recreating wedding cakes from the 1970s and ’80s for couples who want to celebrate wedding anniversaries with copies of their original cake.

For everyday treats, Klinger will have Rosycakes’ signature cinnamon rolls along with some of her own additions like croissants, cookies, macarons, flaky Pop Tart-inspired hand pies and plastic cups attractively filled with cake ends adorned with extra frosting and sprinkles. Klinger will also offer custom cookie sandwiches with a variety of cookies and buttercream frosting for customers to mix and match. All these sweet treats go well with the cans of Paper Tiger cold brew coffee Klinger has stocked in the refrigerated glass case by the register.