Photo Story: The Lovin' Oven

The Lovin’ Oven, located at 240 E Ida Street, Stayton, Oregon, on March 10.

    The Lovin’ Oven, a family owned and operated business, has been serving Stayton, Oregon, and the surrounding areas for nearly 30 years. Started in 1983 by a woman named Doreen Hellemn, who started selling her hand-baked cakes out of her home. Baking in a small kitchen on the side of her house in Stayton, Hellemn sold wedding cakes and started baking a handful of cakes every week for Gerry Frank's Konditorei—a bakery and cafe in Salem, Oregon. 

    In 1987, Valerie Schultz began to work under Hellemn, assisting her for about six years before she, and her husband Mike, bought The Lovin’ Oven in 1993. After a rocky few first years, Mike made the difficult transition from logger with Lulay Timber Co, to a self-employed baker, and they eased their way into the baking industry as business owners. After establishing themselves as the new owners, they bought a small shop on 3rd Avenue, Stayton, Oregon. For a little over 29 years they remained here, however, as of about five months ago they transitioned to their new building. A large improvement, designed by Valerie and Mike who hired their eldest son to help with the construction over two years, was perfectly built to have plenty of space to accommodate their expanding business. 

Baker Tessa Shine spreading a lemon filling on a stretch of cake layers on February 6.

   Valerie and Mike Schultz, along with their daughter Lanae, now run The Lovin’ Oven at the height of its success. Mike, now a co-owner of Gerry Frank's Konditorei, preserves a steady relationship between the two businesses. The Lovin’ Oven and Gerry Frank's Konditorei have a long history together, Doreen Hellemn being one of the konditorei’s original bakers, and the Schultz have continued that legacy; The Lovin’ Oven now baking the majority of the bakery items sold there along with a few other local bakers.

    The couple informally divided up the tasks after purchasing the business. Valerie tended to take on the tasks of assembling, filling, icing, and decorating the cakes. Whereas Mike took on the actual baking side of the business, running the ovens, stirring up the mixtures and the icings, baking the cakes, bars, and cookies. Mike detailed the struggles he faced when first taking charge of that part of the business. While he was not new to the baking scene, he had never done it in a professional setting before. He explained how he ended up having to throw a lot of his creations out at first, needing to go through a lot of trial and error to find the recipes that worked for him. 

Baker Greta Kuenzi assembling a cake before sending it over to the decorating station on February 6.

    Over time, as the business has expanded, Valerie and Mike have maintained the status quo, each loosely managing their side of the business. While the employees tend to have their regular sides of the business, everyone pitches in and helps do whatever needs to get done. Their daughter, Lanae, grew up alongside the business. Working behind the counter after school has always been a thing she has loved. Naturally, as she’s grown older she took a larger role in the family business. Now she manages the front end of The Lovin’ Oven. With both her parents spending the majority of their time back in the kitchens, she gets to interact with the customers. A natural people person, she loves getting to know the regulars and helping new customers find their new favorite treats. Lanae also takes responsibility for a lot of the business's online presence (Facebook) and any internet-based promotions. While they all have their main sections, it is a team effort. Many nights have been spent brainstorming their next dessert or promotion together.

Finishing touches being added to a champagne-raspberry flavored cake—one of The Lovin’ Oven’s best-selling flavors on February 6. 

    The Lovin’ Oven’s menu selections are always open to change, driven by what the customers want. Oftentimes when a flavor has been removed from the menu, they will receive calls requesting it to be brought back. The flavor combinations are a creative process that requires experimentation to see what customers like, sometimes resulting in instant success, other times failing to “get off the ground” even if the bakers thought it would be a huge success. 

    Trying to determine what specific item the bakery is known for is no easy task. With such a wide array of options, it really comes down to personal preference. Mike explained that while he perceived their cheesecakes to be the biggest hit, others may describe it as anything from pink sugar cookies, to cinnamon rolls, to their chocolate fudge blackout cake.

Lanae Schultz (30) receiving an order over the phone on February 6.

    A unique selling point of the bakery is that they make all of their delectables by hand. Few bakeries manage to produce their volume of goods, as well as do it in their style. The bakery is committed to continuing to grow and experiment. They put much value into the scientific side of baking, experimenting with the temperature of the oven, the mixing time, and so on and so forth until they create the best product possible. Mike vouched that The Lovin’ Oven has committed to continuous improvement and growth. When he and Valerie bought the bakery, they agreed to only ever expand the business so long as it coincided with the improvement of their product and they challenged themselves to come up with new ideas. 

Todd Jenson (71) taking refuge from the snow with one of The Lovin’ Oven’s famous cinnamon rolls the morning of March 10.

    Another unique thing that draws people to The Lovin’ Oven is that they only sell desserts. Oftentimes, bakeries are paired with a cafe or something of the sort. Cinnamon rolls, and the in-house coffee, are the only breach of that standard. Cinnamon rolls were an original treat sold by the company, but they were eliminated due to a lack of space and time to make them. Since moving to this new location, however, they have been added back in—primarily due to customer demand. Many people ask if they do other things such as breads, or if they will start offering lunches, but there are currently no plans to expand outside of desserts.