Stopped in to get a few sweet treats for fam. Great service ! Got chocolate cookies, brown sugar Rice Krispies , and lemon raspberry cake . I went right before closing time. Shop is awesome and community centered ! Absolutely adore the owners and staff passion for helping people in need and often holding fundraiser! Their hearts are huge! read more

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Absolutely the best in Ventura hands down and with a heart of gold. Can see her passion in every creation she puts out there. read more

Awkward Pastry - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

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So so happy with the very last minute wedding cake we ordered! The flavors they offer are great, and each person we spoke to was knowledgeable and helpful! So amazing that they offer gluten free options! read more

I've ordered from Jess throughout the years and recommend her to anyone that'll listen to me. Delicious beautiful pastries I've enjoyed: Cupcakes - all of them Cake - vanilla with fresh berries and cream cheese frosting, Nutella espresso omgggg, pistachio, chocolate caramel, red velvet Petite cake tasting box - assorted flavors! Pie - passion fruit Bananarama cups - with nilla wafers yummm Various pastry boxes - follow Jess on IG for fun offerings! Online ordering is easy and she is also responsive to DMs. Jess has also accommodated my last minute orders. She is currently baking out of the old native pizza storefront on Main Street (across from buddy's wine bar!). read more

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I can't believe I haven't reviewed Awkward Pastry. My husband and I both love everything Jess does. We typically get the mix pastry boxes since we like to try different items. Everything is always so good. For my aunts surprise birthday I ordered a dozen cupcakes which were raspberry cake with passion fruit buttercream. Also ordered a 2 tier (4"+8") cake which was almond cake with cream cheese, lemon curd and fresh raspberries. I was a little nervous since my family typically gets vanilla cake with vanilla icing. To my surprise everyone loved it. Cupcakes flew by quick. Jess is always so sweet when we order items and pick them up. We will continue ordering items from her and loving everything. read more

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I feel bad for leaving a 3 star review, so maybe I'm the outlier here. I came in randomly while stopped in traffic on a normal commute through town and saw Awkward Pastry's signage at the Native Pizza location. I stopped in and met the owner Jess and her friendly associate (forgot her name, beautiful, bright red hair!). Jess was in the middle of taking photos of pieces of gorgeously decorated cake slices and was kind enough to stop and share her background with us and go over her ordering process and treat options available for the day. While the customer service was top tier, that is where it sadly ends for me. I did tell Jess I would leave her a Yelp review, with the full intention of giving her 5 stars but I have to be honest I wasn't blown away by the cake or the donut. She gave me a tip to let the cake thaw a little before eating, which I did but the cake overall did not seem fresh. It was a real bummer! I forgot the name of the cake slice, but it was a cinnamon-streudal-creamcheese-frosting type cake. Again, it looked beautiful but the frosting and cake wasn't anything that blew me away. The apple-cider donut was probably the better option out of the two, however I personally, cannot justify spending $5 again on a donut. I do not doubt Jess' talent, and the artistry is absolutely there, this is my honest review, and maybe another time.. For now, its left at 'awkward' for me. read more

This will be my second experience getting tasty desserts from this local business. They have delivered not only in quality but also creativity. Definitely a place to give a try, you won't be disappointed. May this shop be around for decades to come! read more

First off, I'd like to thank Phil for the inspiration. Next, I can recommend Jess and her team without hesitation. I am picky about pastry and have truly enjoyed the cake, cookies, and pastry delights I have tasted over the years. Consistent experiences of biting into something they've made and having that "oh shhhhh!" moment. Delight! I love supporting local businesses that care for the community and make clear their values, so that I can give my money to people who are kind and engaged. read more

Extremely disappointed with our wedding cake experience. The cake was dry, dense, and hard -- several guests even commented on how bad it was. During our cake cutting, with photographers and friends watching, it was so tough that even with both of us trying, we could barely cut into it. It was honestly embarrassing. We had reached out on February 9th and clearly communicated our vision, noting that our wedding colors were black with florals in eggplant, magenta, and lavender, and that we were hoping for something very similar to the reference photo we provided -- which came directly from your own Instagram. Instead, what we received featured bright purple, pink, and blue colors that completely clashed with our wedding palette and looked nothing like what we requested. It felt like a cheap, knockoff version of what we ordered. There was also little to no communication leading up to the event -- no check-ins, no confirmation the week of -- and our wedding began at 5PM while the cake didn't even arrive until after 6. For something we ordered months in advance (back in May) and paid nearly $1,000 for, the professionalism and quality were completely lacking. The only saving grace was the smaller pastries we ordered for the dessert table -- those were fine, and guests said they were better than the actual wedding cake. But overall, the experience was a huge disappointment. Would not recommend for wedding cakes. read more

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So impressed with this bakery! I wanted a pie and they had one! Customized the top for me for just the occasion. So friendly and grabbed some amazing chocolate chip cookies that look beyond expectation, can't wait to scarf them down later. Thanks so much! Vibe is excellent too btw read more

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The pastries and cakes here are delightful! Each one is like a piece of art. Everything is so fresh. The passionfruit pie tastes like biting into a fresh passion fruit off the vine. Key lime pie also delicious. Raspberry hand pies were so delicate and tasty. Definitely will be back for more. read more

Over the years I've enjoyed many different treats from Jess and the rest of the team at Awkward Pastry, including a gorgeous custom cake for my husband's birthday. I'm so excited they have a storefront so we can come weekly now - Everything I've ever tasted is high-quality and delicious! read more

Awkward Pastry - Carrot Cake + Passionfruit Curd + Cream Cheese Frosting - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

Where do I start? I am beyond satisfied with my choice in who I picked to create our wedding cake. After browsing many local bakeries, I found myself on the Awkward Pastry website, and once I viewed the gallery, I was sold! The florals pictured in many of Jess's cakes are what really did it for me. I knew I wanted a cake that felt like me, but was also a bit unexpected, and Jess executed my vision wonderfully. Not only was the cake absolutely beautiful (please see attached pictures), but it was so tasty! We went with the cinnamon swirl/cream cheese frosting - it tasted just like a cinnamon roll and was a hit with our guests. I recommend awkward pastry for anyone who loves delicious, artfully crafted, fun cakes - you won't be disappointed. :) Also, shout out assistant Jess. She was so sweet and helped me get all of the details sorted out so Jess could understand my vision for our cake. read more

Awkward Pastry - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

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Love, love, LOVE the vibes here at Awkward! They make delicious pastries, like this beauuuutiful custom cake for my event, AND are always active in fundraising for the community! Check them out, they're selfless hard workers, definitely deserving of your patronage! 10/10 would go again! read more

Awkward Pastry - Beauuuutiful and delicious custom cake for my event - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

How can you NOT love Awkward Pastry??? Not only are the desserts beautiful but they are so good! Truly obsessed. My first experience was trying their banana cream pie during a partnership with ruffhouse and it blew me away how good it was - I could not stop eating it! Recently I picked up a mini dessert box with apple cider donut cupcakes and meyer lemon pie and my goodness they were all so good! Highly recommended and so friendly too read more

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We had the Pistachio Raspberry Cake with a Raspberry Curd center for our wedding and it was definitely one of the highlights of the day! Not only was it beautiful, but it was incredibly delicious! Communication with Jess was smooth and easy. Everything came out even better than we had hoped! read more

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Jess and her team did an amazing job for our wedding reception cake! It was everything we imagined it to be and more! Loved how it tasted! Thank you so very much! read more

Awkward Pastry - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

We highly recommend Jess at Awkward Pastry for your future wedding or event!! Jess is so prompt in her communication and was so helpful in putting ideas from my various inspo photos together. Not only was our cake BEAUTIFULLY decorated with gold flakes and our florals, the cakes were also DELICIOUS!!! We enjoyed the cakes when we tried them for the tasting, but somehow they tasted even more incredible on the day of the wedding! We devoured it all pretty quickly and can't wait for our saved anniversary slice next year!! (We had one tier of raspberry cake, pistachio buttercream, with lemon curd and a second tier of cinnamon swirl cake with salted caramel buttercream) read more

Awkward Pastry - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

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Jess's treats are unparalleled! Whether you're looking for a beautiful cake for a special occasion or just a post-soccer game treat, you'll find it at Awkward Pastry. Oh, and she has gluten-free goodies, too! I'm still dreaming of the chocolate pavlova with fresh berries we had last week.... read more

We worked with Jess at Awkward Pastry to make a beautiful cake and some smaller treats for our wedding rehearsal dinner since we didn't have a cake on our big day. We gave Jess some broad parameters for the color/design, and she worked her magic! We got this beautiful blue and green painted cake with pops of gold and gorgeous flowers/succulents on top! The cake tasted amazing, probably the best I've ever had. The little lemon bars, brownies, and mini-cupcakes we got were also delicious! Everyone was so impressed and raved about the desserts. Working with Jess in advance was really easy, as was the delivery. read more

Awkward Pastry - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

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I own a bar and for the past two years have been getting my cakes and pies from Jess. Beyond her routine professionalism, the quality of her product is top notch. I don't often write reviews but I'm much overdue for this one. Every week for nearly two years I have come to know that I can count on a consistent and extremely delicious product. I'm not a one-off customer who had a bad or good day and decided to leave a review, I am a weekly customer who then gets feedback from my own customer base. Truth is that I have people who come into my bar *just* for her desserts! What I can expect from her cakes is a super moist, flavor packed tiered beauty and her pies don't skip a beat either. Great quality, great care and amazing flavors. We're very lucky to have Jess in Ventura and you are in the best of hands with your celebratory cake, pie or sweet treat. There is a lot of care that goes into all of her goods and frankly, they're just extremely tasty. You've come to the right place, look no further. read more

Jess did a phenomenal job with our cake - we had an idea and sent her some inspiration pics and she knocked it out of the park! Everything was delicious - we got so many compliments on both how the cake looked and how it tasted. read more

Awkward Pastry - A wedding cake decorated with mountains, trees and flowers. - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

We've ordered goodies from here several times, and everything is always fresh and delicious! Our favorite will always be the classic chocolate chip cookies with sea salt -- hands down the best chocolate chip cookies ever! read more

Would order again!!! Jess had great communication. I ordered a gluten free chocolate peanut butter cake for an early Mother's Day with blue accents. They don't do custom themes/drawings, but i was more than happy with the flowers. I didn't get to try it, but the recipient loved it!! The cake was beautiful. Pick up was easy (location and time is on your invoice. We requested a different pick up time and Jess made it happen). Thank you so much!! read more

Awkward Pastry - Inside - chocolate peanut butter - gluten free - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

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If you're looking for a wedding cake or any other dessert for that matter. Look no further than Jess! She did our wedding cake and other desserts for our July 2023 wedding and she killed it!!!! I sent her my vision board from Pinterest and she got exactly what I wanted. Along with cake she made us cookies, cupcakes and brownies. And everything was devoured at our wedding. read more

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I absolutely love getting all my sweets from Awkward Pastry, without fail everyone is always blown away. I've gotten 3 birthday cakes and also brought assorted goodies to parties and holidays, it just feels better to support a small business rather than large chains and the quality is so good for the price! What I love equally is that this business stands proudly in its community oriented values and participates in fundraising and mutual aid events, we need more businesses like this in Ventura!! read more

Everything about Awkward is amazing! We found them online after trying a few other places for our wedding cake. Navigating on their website was super simple and they even recommend popular flavors which was super helpful. Their sample cakes come with 4 mini cakes to try where you choose the flavor, filling, and buttercream. Even the samples were beautifully decorated! They were decorated in gorgeous florals and baked to perfection. Typically, you either get a great cake with decent design or a decent cake with a great design- not both. Let me tell everyone: YOU GET BOTH IN GREATNESS! Jess is very responsive with email and guided us through everything. She broke down the pricing, let us know how much we'd need, florals, delivery, and gave great suggestions. I felt so bad for this, but we also wound up adding cupcakes to our order a few weeks before the wedding. We hope we didn't stress you out too much, Jess! She made us cute little strawberry cupcakes. I now refuse to have any other cupcakes because they were the best I've ever had. We wound up getting a raspberry cake with raspberry filling and cream cheese frosting. It was phenomenal! We got married in May and people are STILL talking about our cake and how much they loved it. We had quite a bit left over so we took it home. I told Jess and she even told me how to preserve it with step by step instructions. She takes her craft seriously and wants to make her customers happy. I have even been buying things after the fact just because it's so delicious and fun to try new things! So glad we found them and I'm honored they did the cake for our wedding. read more

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Jess did an amazing job! I asked for an ocean themed cake with matching cupcakes. I showed her a pic for inspo and she nailed it. She had an extensive list of flavors- which all sounded amazing. For us she made her take on strawberry champagne and raspberry cake with pistachio buttercream. Everyone kept commenting on how delicious the cake was. My parents picked up the cake and said she was super sweet. Highly recommend read more

Awkward Pastry - Ombré cupcakes. (I made the helmets and put on the sprinkles) - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

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Jess is a master at what she does! Unique and decadent flavors. I have ordered a few cakes from her and have always been impressed by the detail in design and generous customer service. My go-to cake lady in Ventura read more

Awkward Pastry - My daughter's 1st birthday cake by Jess. - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

I found out about this shop when I had the most delicious slice of cake at a different restaurant. After emphatically asking the owners who made it, I was pointed to Awkward Pastry. Since then I have been getting their mixed goodies box. It does not disappoint and has a wonderful variety which will leave all your friends or family happy (this is if you let them have any of your delicious haul). Would highly recommend adding this spot to your daily or whenever you need some tasty and beautiful baked goods for any occasion. read more

Fabulous cupcakes. Everyone at the 85th birthday party loved them!! Thank you for going above and beyond to make these for us last minute!! read more

Awkward Pastry - Beautiful cupcakes - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

Awkward Pastry made us an absolutely delicious wedding cake and went above and beyond to deliver it after I, the bride ordered it for the wrong date (insert face palm here). Long story short, when I sent my information to Jess I somehow put in June 25 when our wedding date was June 24. I missed my mistake when I received the contract. When Jess found out at about 10 o'clock at night, she had one of our cakes delivered to our hotel. A few of our guest were staying there as well so we were able to celebrate and eat cake on our wedding day. The next day she delivered out tiered cake which allowed us to extend our celebration with family and share cake with our neighbors. We had one tier with orange cake and passion fruit, the second tier was lemon cake with lemon curd and coconut icing. Both cakes were exquisite! read more

Awkward Pastry and Jess are the BEST! I just moved to Ventura and didn't know where to go for a cake for a very special day but so happy I stumbled upon her page. Jess was able to make such a beautiful cake with my request of an orange flower story so last minute with being so amazing, gracious, and awkward in the very best way which makes you feel like you made a new friend! She took poppies from her yard to make the theme come true on such a beautiful cake! The cake was for my friends baby shower, and not only is the cake so beautiful it's one of the best cakes we've ever had ( almond, lemon curd, raspberry)! We keep joking that we need more holidays to celebrate so we can order more cakes from Jess!! read more

Awkward Pastry - Baby Shower Cake - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

Had Jess make my baby shower cake years ago, and she has been my obvious choice for all of my cake and desert needs since then. Most recently she made my wedding cake and holy mother of gods! Everything about this whole process was easy. The cake tasting was beautiful, she suggested wonderful flavor combos and a small lesson on how to maximize combos by mixing cakes and buttercreams. The wedding cake was to die for. The color scheme match, the sizing, all perfect. Jess made zero attempt to upsell me while also letting me know all of my options and in the end I went with only a cake but her sizing recommendation was spot on. She was also flexible with delivery time, which I really appreciated as I pretty much organized my small wedding entirely on my own and really needed that small kindness. Jess is truly a talented Pastry Chef, and a treasure of a human. It blows my mind that she is almost solely a one woman show. I simply cannot recommend her enough for any of your treat-needa. Holidays, birthdays or even if you just want a cake to make yourself happy! read more

Awkward Pastry - Cake tasting by Awkward Pasty for my Wedding! - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

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I ordered a dozen chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for a party and everyone enjoyed them! They were so beautifully decorated with flowers and sprinkles, moist, and delicious! Ordering online and drive up pick up was so easy! Highly recommend! read more

Provided us with amazing samples when we were still researching flavor options. We came up with a custom three layer wedding cake that turned out better than we could have ever imagined, both in looks and flavor!!! Jess made us a customized chocolate peanut butter, salted caramel and Nutella and s'mores wedding cake with homemade marshmallow fluff! It was AMAZING and our guests are still talking about the cake a month later. Thank you Jess for helping to make our dream wedding day come true!! read more

Awkward Pastry - Custom three tier wedding cake - Desserts Near Me - Ventura, California

Jess made a tropical coconut pineapple cake for my mother's birthday! It wasn't something she normally does but out of all the bakeries we went to she was the only one who was able to do it. We were SOOOO grateful! The cake was delicious!! read more

JESS, YOU ARE AMAZING!!! Thank you for helping our wedding dreams come true. From the absolute stunner of a wedding cake to our dessert table, everything was delicious. For anyone thinking about working with Jess, please don't hesitate! Literally everything she makes is not only visually beautiful but has the taste to back it up as well. Our wedding guests couldn't stop talking about our dessert table. read more

Not only was the cake I ordered from Jess incredible, but so was my entire experience with her! She worked with me to make my vision come to life and made my fiancee the birthday cake of her dreams! She was so easy to communicate with, she made the entire pick up process incredible easy, and she was so friendly! The cake itself was delicious and totally exceeded my expectations. I also ordered a batch of her brown butter krispie treats and they were 100% the best (and prettiest) rice krispie's I've ever eaten. We all devoured them so quickly I didn't even get to take a pic, ha! If you're thinking of ordering from Awkward Pastry, don't think twice. I can't wait to order again from her for the next special occasion I need a fabulous dessert for! read more

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The Green Matcha cookies are probably the best I've had of any cookie ever. Also, I got a pumpkin pie for a birthday for my dad and I haven't had one that has come even close to as good. A pastery badass and true artist. (Coming from a person who are all professional artists) Green Matcha cookies. Get them when you can cause I'm pretty sure they're only seasonal. read more