Petra walks in the door with pastries in hand, a big smile, and a spirit that is palpable. She is a breath of fresh air in today’s world when so many people don’t have that kind of high energy and happiness in their daily lives.
Petra Vigil (Petra’s Backstubchen) has been in the German baking business for ten years, and you will find her selling baked goods at local farmer’s markets, The Store, and as a vendor at Evermoor Park in Pleasant Grove.
“It’s family for me,” Petra says, as she describes her relationship with her customers and the success of her bakery.
Baking has always been family for Petra. When she was young in Germany, she watched her mother bake, and at eighteen she bought her own recipe book. She still uses it for some of the recipes she bakes today.
Petra bakes a variety of items including strudels, her famous bee sting cake, a huge variety of flavored cheesecakes, and cookies.
“German cheesecakes are way more creamy than American cheesecakes,” Petra said as she showed the many pastries she brought for the Utah Stories staff.
Petra has placed her products in grocery stores, even though she realized there wasn’t much profit in it. She came to a point in her career where she had to decide if she wanted to go big or keep her small business the way it is.
“I thought to myself that bigger is not always the best way to go. I’ll stick with what I’m doing right now, and it paid off in the end,” Petra said.
Her items are no longer in grocery stores, but you can order them from her website, and you can find her at many markets and festivals.
Although Petra is a bundle of joy, that doesn’t mean she hasn’t gone through hardships — especially in the past year when she had a major health scare. She experienced pain in her chest for a while but ignored it, and ended up having open heart surgery.
“It was scary; it was a very close call, and I’m lucky to be here. I’m very happy to be here,” Petra said.
Petra thanked her friends for starting a fundraiser for her benefit and was surprised that people did that for her.
