Chef’s Table - Blue-eyed soul

Along with her husband, Johnny, a musician-turned-baker, Angie Mosier is the chef/owner of Blue-Eyed Daisy Bakeshop. It opened in September 2005 in Palmetto, in a new development south of Atlanta called Serenbe.

Where’d the name come from?

We were in San Francisco and we passed by an entire garden of blue-eyed daisies — they are actual flowers with the classic white petals and a blue center — in front of a Victorian. We said, “That might be a really good name for a bakeshop.”

What’s the concept?

Mayberry, but not hayseed. It’s now easier to find French pastries in Atlanta than caramel cake. But I am very keen on keeping Southern traditional foodways alive. They conjure up memories. You have to eat them to save them. Otherwise, recipes die.

Such as?

Lane cake. It’s from Clayton, Ala., a yellow cake with a custardy filling of pecans, coconut and bourbon. I was doing research on iconic Southern desserts and now I consider myself an authority on lane cakes. Somebody recently called and asked if we made it. They had called every bakery in Atlanta and nobody knew what it was.

It’s fun to reintroduce people to these desserts. We make a banana cake, a coconut cake, pineapple upside-down cake. It makes me happy when someone says, “That’s the way my grandma used to make it, in a skillet.” Food connects people.

You have some classic Southern savories as well, like pinto beans and corn bread, and pimento cheese sandwiches.

When we first opened, we primarily offered salads and sandwiches. People started asking us to do hot things. They didn’t have anywhere else to eat. So we have one featured hot plate, kind of meat-and-three-inspired but there’s no choice. Think of it as you’re coming to my house for dinner and here’s what I fixed you.