The best cake I ever ate from a vending machine

inside Portland's Pix-O-Matic

This week I’m sharing a little food adventure that is refueling my creative energy. Let this be your sign to go on one, too, in your neighborhood.

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East Burnside is a busy street with the mandatory Portland trio of vintage goods, coffee shop, and brunch place. However, there is also a bonus 24-hour vending machine, called the Pix-O-Matic, that serves the best desserts. The owner of Pix Pâtisserie, Cheryl Wakerhauser, started this new venture after labor shortages during the pandemic. Luckily, for us, the vending machine concept worked and is still around today.

The day I visited the Pix-O-Matic was the perfect spring day with crisp blue skies, blooming crocuses, and a friendly neighborhood cat. There is a big sign saying that it is ‘self-serve vending at its finest,’ but no specific details about what you’ll find inside.

Lively music was booming and there was an interesting skeleton “still life” setup on the closed patio to the left.

Straight ahead was a fortune telling machine and to the right were two large, refrigerated vending machines with a menu explaining all of the dessert offerings. There were professional composed cakes, macarons, crème brûlée, and chocolate gift boxes. The current dessert special was “The Royale with Cheese” a chocolate mousse, hazelnut praline, almond dacquoise with a serving of French triple cream cheese.

The vending machines also have fancy semi-soft cheese rounds, tinned fish/conserves, and random things to make you laugh. When I was there, you could find a goat noise machine, spy glasses, pancake mask, whiskey socks, and earthworm jerky. If you’re local, no guarantees that those gems are still there.

Luckily, a couple saved me some time by explaining how to use the vending machines. I picked the ‘Jane Avril,’ an almond cake studded with raspberry and pistachio surrounding raspberry mousse with pistachio cake and Kirsch. Hidden inside a boring brown takeout box was a beautiful pink personal-sized cake decorated with chocolate logo and pistachios. The taste was absolute perfection—just as light and delicate as it looked.

Everyday adventure and discovery can bring us a moment of joy and creativity. Maybe it’s the vending machine sugar/adrenaline rush, but I’m also feeling inspired to re-read Wakerhauser’s cookbooks ‘Modern French Pastry’ and ‘Petite Pâtisserie.’ Both books are packed with her unique creations and funky dessert names just like the Pix-O-Matic vending machine experience.

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