With its eye-catching Christmas display, Crème de la Crust is making a mark in Barnard Castle.
The cake shop has been described as a boutique café, but owner Oksana Chorna takes a more down to earth view.
“We’re not trying to be a fancy patisserie, we see ourselves as a nice, cosy, homely coffee and cake shop,” she said. “That’s the vibe we want, reasonable prices, not somewhere exclusive.”
Crème de la Crust opened earlier this year, but Oksana is no stranger to the business.
When she lived in Kyiv, Ukraine, she ran a successful café and during Covid she branched into doing more of her own baking.
In 2022 she moved to England and settled in Barnard Castle. Her culinary skills helped her find work at Blagraves, then as a pastry chef at Runa Farm, but the dream was always to set up a business of her own.
And Barney, with its supportive community and bustling high street, was the perfect place.
The menu draws heavily on Oksana’s heritage – from the bright green, tarragon-flavoured Tarkhun soft drink to a range of cakes.
The honey cake is something of a star performer, much-loved across Eastern and Central Europe, while sponge cakes with lemon, cherry or berries are a take on a family staple from back home.
The moist, fluffy cake comes with a distinctive mix of double cream and crème fraiche to cut through some of the sweetness.
It’s not just Eastern classics: there are Parisian-style profiteroles, San Sebastien cheesecake from the Basque country and a range of old English favourites.
Unusually, Crème de la Crust is open from 9am-8pm. Piotr Faliszewski, Oksana’s partner, explained that there was a gap in the market in the early evening.
“We bake cakes to order so we wanted to stay open for people to collect on the way home from work,” he said.
“Then we found that because all the other cafes are closed, there is nowhere to have a coffee or a tea if you don’t want to go to the pub.”
Both Piotr and Oksana backed the late night shopping events in Barney.
“We’d be open anyway, but we’re right behind this,” Piotr added.
“It’s great to see how lively Barnard Castle can be in the evenings and there is a lovely atmosphere.”
