Community Corner

Cousins Take On Childhood Dream of Baking

Get to know one of the creators of Twelve Baskets, a new cupcake company from Wynnewood, selling Asian-inspired cupcakes at Town Hall Coffee in Bala Cynwyd.

A local favorite, Town Hall Coffee Co. in Bala Cynwyd, has expanded its menu recently by adding cupcakes. Twelve Baskets, a newly found cupcake company from the home of two Wynnewood residents, is putting a twist to the ever-popular sweet treat with Asian-inspired flavors.

Patch gets to know one of the co-owners of this fairly new cupcake company.

Name: Pauline Han 

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Co-Owner of: Twelve Baskets (other co-owner is Han's cousin Michelle Lee)

Year Established: Dec. 12, 2012 

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Current Residence: Wynnewood

Earlier Stints: Han started off as a teacher at Episcopal Academy but left the school indefinitely last June to spend more time with her 3-year-old son and find her new path in baking.

How did you get the name Twelve Baksets?

We named it Twelve Baskets from the account of the feeding of the 5,000 in the Bible. Upon receiving five loaves and two fish from a little boy, Jesus blessed that small offering and was able to feed the entire crowd of 5,000, and then some–with an abundance of twelve baskets left over, to be exact. Like the little boy who gave all he had, we want to give back all our talents and gifts to God in hopes that everyone we serve will experience the abundance of His grace feeding of the 5,000. We want our business to reflect our faith as well in that we've been given so much. Everyone around us had supported us with prayer and we wanted to make sure we give back. We also knew we wanted to open our company on Dec. 12, 2012 which went well with the name.

How did you get into the business? 

Baking is something my cousin and I grew up doing together and our grandmother had a big part of raising us. We love baking, Asian food (Korean food specifically). My cousin moved in with us a little bit ago and we started baking again. We started sharing our cupcakes to our friends and family, and people at church and our family were like, 'You should sell this.' We didn't have any professional background but started seriously considering it and we got our kitchen licensed and certified. Now, we're baking from home all the time. 

Why Asian flavors?

In my life, I've never had an azuki-flavored cupcake and I've never had a green tea cupcake. We just kind of started messing around with the flavors and we love the Asian flavors—fusion was our natural thing to do. Everything we do is homemade and we're having fun with it and enjoy it. 

What's your next dream?

Because we don't have any professional baking background, one day our dream is to go to Paris, France, and get trained for a few months. 

What to know: Twelve Baskets will be completely closed in July. Both owners of the cupcake company will be going to East Timor with their church, Philadelphia Mission Baptist Church, to help with a health clinic.

What's next: Twelve Baskets will be selling its cupcakes at Media Farmers' Market starting May 9.

Plug: The company's main clientele comes from the Main Line area and, although, they don't have a physical shop, you can order their cupcakes by the dozen here. They also offer signature flavors like red velvet, vanilla, and chocolate as well as their unique Asian-infused flavors.


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