Passion for playing with food sparks My Gal Sal Bakery & Catering

There’s a reason Salomae “Sal” Schroeder, owner of My Gal Sal Bakery & Catering, keeps a box of tissues nearby.

Schroeder’s comprehensive dessert lineup includes dozens of gluten-free items, ranging from sandwich bread and tortillas to muffins and cake pops. It’s not unusual for someone with celiac disease or gluten sensitivities to come in skeptical about her baked goodies, after being disappointed with the flavor or texture of other gluten-free wares.

But after a couple of bites, Schroeder often sees she’s made a believer.

“When someone comes into the bakery and they say, ‘I haven’t had a cannoli in 20 years … and they eat it and cry at the table,” she said.

Another customer loved carrot cake but hadn’t had it for years due to celiac. She took one bite and told Schroeder it tasted like the carrot cake her grandmother made when she was a kid. She was transported.

'Playing with food is so therapeutic'

“That’s what keeps me going. 'Wow, I did something for somebody,'” Schroeder said. “I can’t wait to come in, in the morning. To give that feeling to someone … that someone cares.”

Schroeder doesn’t call what she does cooking or baking. She has been doing both since she was an 8-year-old girl growing up in Capetown, South Africa, and has a less technical term for those tasks.

“I call it ‘playing with food,’” Schroeder said in her bubbly voice laced with just a trace of an accent reflecting her native homeland. “Playing with food is so therapeutic.”

Since 2010, commercial kitchens have been Schroeder’s playground for her breakfast, lunch and dessert goodies that accommodate diets ranging from all-inclusive to gluten- and dairy-free and vegan. What initially started as a one-woman catering company for a few clients has bloomed into a full-fledged storefront Schroeder opened in 2016.

Schroeder’s small business is part of a big wave of health-conscious diets and a market that caters to those with food or ingredient allergies. In fact, 3.1 million Americans who do not have celiac disease follow a gluten-free diet, according to a Mayo Clinic study.

All gluten-free baked items are prepped in a separate room and baked in a designated oven to avoid cross-contamination, Schroeder said.

Creating healthier versions of popular treats

Schroeder’s menu was composed of 12 desserts when she launched her Phoenix baking company. Today, she’s got dozens of treats, including 24 varieties of in-house made French macarons, six egg-free items, eight vegan items, 34 gluten-free products and 23 varieties of cake pops — the confection that took her fledgling catering company to the next level.

The cake pop craze took off not long after Schroeder started her one-woman catering business. She discovered most bakeshops were making these simple treats with cheap, artificial ingredients.

Schroeder came up with a healthier version made with less sugar and low-fat buttercream. Word got out and the special requests rolled in. Schroeder happily obliged.

“Pretty soon I was doing a no-egg recipe, then gluten-free, sugar-free, paleo,” she recalled. “Next thing I knew, I was selling them at farmers markets and coffee and tea shops were selling them.”

Schroeder was renting space in commercial kitchens in the city. She didn’t use her home kitchen to assure potential customers that she was running a serious and safe operation. But reality struck with one huge order by a large fast-food chain that wanted 6,000 cake pops for an event.  

“That made me realize, this is serious business. I thought, 'Oh my, I need my own place,'” she said as she laughed.

She opened her Phoenix storefront in 2016 and expanded her dessert-only lineup to include breakfast and lunch items soon after. Just like her desserts, she gives customers gluten- and sugar-free, vegan and paleo options. She even has gluten-free tortillas.

'Sal really goes out of her way to include you'

This makes is easy for parties or families with varying dietary needs to enjoy a meal together. It also makes hers a one-stop shop when entertaining, especially for holiday gatherings.

“You can come here and get a regular pumpkin pie, a gluten-free pie and egg-free pie without having to go to different bakeries. That’s what is making us really succeed,” she said.

Jordan Davis has been a weekly customer since the shop opened. His youngest son has celiac disease, so Davis is somewhat of a connoisseur when it comes to evaluating gluten-free dishes. Of the seven or eight gluten-free Valley bakeries he’s visited, Davis said, “not one has been able to hold a candle to Sal.” Once, he bought a couple dozen gluten-free muffins and his daughter’s cheer squad ate them up thinking they were cupcakes.

“The muffins are amazing. They don’t taste like anything like gluten-free. And I’ve had tons of gluten-free stuff,” said Davis, who lives in Peoria.

He’s had every gluten-free dessert and also raved about the banana bread and carrot cake. He’s recommended the bakery to friends, who also like it.

“Sal really goes out of her way to include you and make people comfortable. She has a huge variety and the food is fresh and the people are always friendly,” Davis said.

Schroeder’s French macarons are just as good, if not better, than the ones Linda Cobbhad in France. Cobb, who has been a regular for a year, also likes the chocolate cake. And although she is fine with gluten, Cobb has ordered desserts to serve her friends with gluten sensitivities.

Cobb, a cleaning expert known as The Queen of Clean, appreciates that Schroder keeps her shop immaculate, which instills more confidence.

“She’s a really nice person and very detail-oriented. She doesn’t put up with sloppy work,” said Cobb, who lives in Phoenix. “You get things up to her quality, you know it’s going to be good.”

'I felt that it was my passion, my dream'

Schroeder, who moved to the U.S. in 1987, spent her career as a personal or administrative assistant. But she always enjoyed “playing with food.”

“I loved making things for people and seeing them (express), ‘Oh my, this is the best thing ever!’” she said.

She was working for a Fortunate 500 civil engineering company when she was one of many laid off in the wake of the recession. She was devastated and cried as she drove home. Through the tears, however, came revelation.

“I said, ‘Sal, I think the universe is telling you something,” she recalled.

The next day, she emailed everyone she knew and informed them of the personal-assistant services company she started, My Gal Sal. One day, a client asked her to find a caterer. She called it the most exhausting thing she ever endured. Frustrated, unable to find one up to her standards that didn’t come with an over-inflated price tag, Schroeder offered to cater the event and cooked a complete meal as a test. The client approved and hired her. Thus the current incarnation of her company was born.

In 2012, she started moving away from administrative clients to focus purely on food. Today, her goods are available at her shop and farmers markets.

“I felt that was my passion, my dream. I just didn’t think I’d do it in my late 50s, after being forced to reinvent myself,” Schroeder said. “But, that’s how my book of life goes.”

What: My Gal Sal Bakery & Catering

Where: 15820 N. 35th Ave., Phoenix

Employees: Six

Interesting stat: Global sales of gluten-free food increased 12.6 percent, totaling $3.5 billion in 2016, according to Euromonitor, the consumer data group.

Details: 602-978-2479, salomaes.com.

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