Ahoj · Hello
The baker behind the folk heart
A Slovak kitchen, a family recipe book, and a Queensland address.
It started with a walnut grinder
I grew up in a house where the oven was never really off. My mum always baked on the weekends, and our job as kids was to turn the handle of her cast-iron walnut grinder until our arms ached. She kept them in an old recipe book, with the recipes written in pencil and butter fingerprints smudging the page for perník (gingerbread).
The recipe book came with me to Australia.
Why the folk heart
When I miss Slovakia, the blue flowers and red hearts remind me of home and the traditions I grew up with. Keeping these folk patterns in my baking is a way to stay close to my roots and carry those traditions on. I love sharing a little piece of that feeling with everyone who enjoys my baking.
How I bake now
I bake to order in small batches from my own kitchen on the Gold Coast. I do not freeze anything or use premixes or preservatives, so I need advance notice and can only take a limited number of orders each week.
I have baked for the Czechoslovakian Club in Brisbane for many years, and it makes me happy to see people enjoy my cakes. There is something about a walnut strudel or Drunken Izidor that takes people back to their own memories. I want to bring traditional flavours back to people who treasure those memories.
What I promise
Four things I will not cut corners on
Recipes from home
Passed down through many generations in Slovakia and baked here the same way.
Made to order
Nothing sits in a freezer. Your order is baked in the days before you collect it.
Real ingredients
Butter, cream, ground walnuts, poppy seed and fruit. No preservatives, no premixes.
Small batches
Every order is made with care in Katka’s home kitchen.
Let’s bake
Come and try something
Start with a mixed dessert box — six pieces, Katka’s choice. It is the fastest way to work out what you love.
Walnut and poppyseed rolls are $17 each or $34 a pair. Babovka is $44 whole, which gets you 14 slices. Gluten-free almond orange cake is $50 (20cm diameter, serves 12).