For Jennifer Batt, dessert has never just been dessert.
“It’s pretty much my life,” says Jenn, owner, operator and food scientist behind Buffalo-based Quokka Sweets.
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Jenn spent years working in bakeries, restaurants, hotels and product development, but eventually began to feel creatively stifled by traditional pastry work.
“I’m very particular with what I want to create,” she says. “I kind of just didn’t want to be making apple pies, lemon tarts and flourless chocolate cakes.”
Today, that curiosity fuels Quokka Sweets’ ever-changing lineup of handmade desserts and weekly ice cream flavors, available at Farm Shop and on the menu at Amabel Provisions and Kuni’s, all located in Buffalo’s Elmwood Village neighborhood. The company is known for small-batch creations, seasonal ingredients and unexpected flavor pairings.
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Jenn’s approach is intentionally small-scale. Without a storefront, she produces many of her specialty desserts only by preorder for holidays or in the form of custom event dessert tables, minimizing waste while giving herself freedom to experiment. Summer, unsurprisingly, is her favorite season to create.
“Farmers market season is my favorite time of the year,” Jenn says. “I absolutely love going and seeing what’s fresh-picked that day.”
She frequently sources fruit from local producers such as Weiss Farms and Cornerstone Orchards, searching for ingredients at peak ripeness. Raspberries, peaches and apricots are among her seasonal favorites. “I don’t have to over-manipulate something that already tastes so good,” she says.
That philosophy often leads to desserts that blend local ingredients with flavors influenced by her travels and global cuisines. A recent ice cream concoction combines the flavors of coconut sticky rice with local rhubarb, drawing inspiration from Southeast Asian desserts while still being rooted in Buffalo.
“I just really love diving down that rabbit hole of pairing different unique flavors,” Jenn says.
Her dessert offerings via Farm Shop change weekly, shaped by what’s freshest and what sparks inspiration. Jenn credits Farm Shop owner Kelsey Gurtler with supporting her ingenuity.
“She lets me have creative freedom to make whatever I want—she’s like, ‘I’ll buy whatever you make, whenever you make it,’” Jenn says. “It’s really a great feeling to have somebody who appreciates what I’ve dedicated my life to.”
Even the business name reflects Jenn’s playful approach; Quokka Sweets is named after the famously smiling Australian marsupial.
“I wanted that smiling face to represent how I wanted people to feel when they were eating my food,” Jenn says. “My favorite thing is watching people try what I make and just being happy.”
