She made cakes for celebs before COVID caused a change. Her Pleasant Gap bakery opens soon

A new bakery and café is set to debut in Pleasant Gap this month. The Cakeshop by Tati is the evolution of Cakes by Tati, a custom cake design business created by Tatiana Polay only a few months ago. Polay, with her impressive resume that includes stints at bakeries in Manhattan, moved to Centre County with her husband near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic so the couple could start new careers while staying close to family.

“My first job and my internship during culinary school was in the same type of bakery as my bakery — a local bakery with French pastries and custom cakes,” Polay said. “From there ... I (worked with) a cake designer in Manhattan, so my latest work was doing very high-end cakes for Vogue, Cardi B, a bunch of very high-profile customers.”

When the pandemic hit New York City, Polay and her husband, who worked in the restaurant industry, both lost their jobs. When a coworker passed away from COVID, they decided it was time to leave the city and, once in Centre County, Polay started her specialty cake business, Cakes by Tati.

“We decided to come here and work on whatever jobs we could find. During the days, in the mornings, I was working at Weis, and the rest of my time, I was working on the cakes,” she said. “From there, the idea was that maybe we could do a bakery. We saw there was no bakery in this area that focused on French pastries. ... It wasn’t common to find (items like) entremets or higher-end, custom-designed cakes. We could combine both and have a storefront.”

Polay plans to hold a soft opening for the bakery at 113 E. College Ave. starting Tuesday, with a full opening post-Valentine’s Day. She plans to use the soft opening period to test breakfast pastries and other items, to determine the final menu.

“For now, we’re testing croissants, pain au chocolat, danishes, muffins, maybe scones ... mostly laminated doughs. I also want to make entremets, which is a layered dessert. Then, quick cakes if you forgot something or just want to take a cake somewhere, and not a custom design,” Polay said. “I want to offer cakes by the slice, whole cakes, as well as cake tasting boxes, cookies, eclairs, macarons. I have a lot of ideas of what I want to put out, so that’s why we’re doing the soft opening.”

When it comes to Polay’s specialty cakes, she’s become known for her extravagant sugar flowers, clean lines, pristine finishes and small, hidden details that hold special meaning to the client. She makes specialty cakes for all kinds of occasions, from birthdays to engagements, anniversaries to Father’s and Mother’s Day. Some clients are such a fan of Polay’s work that they drive from as far as several hours away to pick up their specialty cakes.

“I have one cake that I made for my neighbor from New York,” Polay said, noting the first birthday cake was one of her favorites, with its woodland theme and accompanying smash cake. “She drove four hours here in the middle of the pandemic to get a birthday cake for her daughter. I told her that she could find another cake designer in New York, but she said, ‘No, I want you!’ ”

While Polay is primarily focused on getting the new Cakeshop by Tati open in Pleasant Gap, she’s looking forward to the broader future as well, as she hopes to eventually establish a bakery team, as well as partner with local restaurants to provide wholesale desserts. Already, she’s been working with established businesses like Nittany Catering and Big Spring Spirits.

“We would like for this bakery to become a place that people think of, where they know they can find maybe a random puff pastry, and say, ‘I know they’ll have it and I know it’s good. At the same time, I know if I go to them with a crazy cake design, they’ll be able to do it and exceed my expectations,’ ” she said.

Polay will resume taking specialty cake orders following the bakery’s opening, with a lead time of one to two weeks for orders. For more information, follow The Cakeshop by Tati on Facebook, at www.facebook.com/thecakeshopbytati, call 814-359-3072 or email info@thecakeshopbytati.com. The shop’s hours will be 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.

This story was originally published February 7, 2021 at 7:00 AM.