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When Yuei Costello baked her first cake, it was out of necessity. In the year It was 2020 and she was living in Chanthaburi, Thailand. Her cousin was getting married and because of the pandemic there were no businesses to make a wedding cake. In just one week of practice, she made tiered cakes for over 150 people. After that, baking became a hobby, she says.
“I helped my aunt run a resort and there was nothing to do during the outbreak,” Costello said. “So, I found something to do and it was fun… but I never thought it would be a business.
In the year In August 2021, Costello moved to Kansas City from her native Thailand. She married her husband Patrick, whom she met 14 years ago while working as an au pair in the US, in October. Costello baked the goods for their wedding.
But Costello’s hobby began to turn into a living when Cafe Cà Phê celebrated Lunar New Year celebrations in 2022. It’s where the couple introduced their new Thai bakery, Mooyuei Baker. Mooyuei is a combination of the Thai word for pig and her name – she features a pig on her pop-up tables next to her sign.
“That was the first shock for me because I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” said Costello, who returned to the cafe. This year’s holidayHe says. “I made Thai-style cakes: orange cake, chocolate cake and Thai tea cake. After that, I will try to integrate it more. We have another one called Phoi Tong. Pandan cake with sweet eggplant. I try to do something more Thai to let people see how it is.”
Savannah Hawley-Bates
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KCUR 89.3
Mixing Thai and American flavors
Costello said she likes to combine Thai flavors and techniques with traditional American bread products. Many of her desserts use chiffon cake as a base to keep them light and airy. She makes them all by hand in her home kitchen without a machine. Costello, who dreams of making display cakes, says she works to make each dessert its own work of art.
Her products are “smooth, not too sweet, not too crazy about sugar” — unlike many American bakeries — because Costello said she wants people to eat the whole thing in one sitting.
Costello’s staples are orange and ube cakes, which she brings to the many pop-ups she attends.
“From the beginning, she was always way behind me,” Patrick said. “And since she started doing this, I’ve been around a lot and helped bag things and print signs and design stuff. But I make black sesame cookies – this is my contribution.
Costello is constantly thinking of new flavors and desserts to add to her rotation. She recently added Banoffee Oreo dessert (banana, chocolate, caramel, Oreo and whipped cream in a personal dish), Biscoff cheesecake and ube whoopie pies.
The self-taught baker is also working on mastering sugar cookies.
“I always say, like, ‘I hate it, but I’m going to do it,'” Costello says. “I just love to draw (design) and it’s fun. But it takes a lot of time because if you do everything by hand, you have to wait to paint another layer on top.
Costello made bunny and paper fan decorated sugar cookies for this year’s Lunar New Year celebrations. The bakery is participating in two pop-ups this weekend and has prepared hundreds of delicious dishes for each. At Saturday’s event, her sugar cookies sold out in less than two hours.
Costello’s return to the Cafe Cafe event this year was more than a Lunar New Year celebration – she also marked a year in business.
To celebrate, she passed out hongbao – red envelopes traditionally filled with money and given out during the Lunar New Year – with discount cards inside.
Costello Following InstagramWhere she directs most of her career, it has grown exponentially over the years since her first pop-up. She eventually hopes to open her own storefront.
For now, though, she’s happy with a full pop-up program, selling at cafes like Cafe Cafe and Gotcha and fulfilling custom orders.
“I never say pop-ups. “At the same time, I find it fun to challenge myself to try to find a lot of menus and to see and say hello to people because I think the people here are always nice.”
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