Posted by Jeff Jurmain in bakeries, pastries, shops on March 3, 2008 at 7:32 am

Messa Bites
681 Mount Pleasant Road
416-485-5832

Every occasion calls for a cookie. That’s certainly the going train of thought in the Costa household, where wife Vera and husband Michael bake biscuits for any and all times of year. Want 200 cookies with wedding dresses or clover leaves on them? Maybe Canadian flags? Cupid? Frogs? Company logo?

The new Costa creation, Messa Bites, would likely welcome the challenge. They add personal flare and imaginative design to a batch of cookies or other sweets, made with all-natural ingredients. “Our motto is to ‘give them something to talk about,’” says Vera Costa. “That’s exactly what we want guests to do at a party. Imagine taking home an edible place card or matching your child’s invitation with a cookie favour.

"The possibilities are endless.”

Vera and Michael have been in the cooking biz for about eight years. Their entrepreneurial spirit first sparked a meal delivery service. Under the name “Personal Natural Foods,” they prepared, cooked and delivered healthy food to people with no time to cook or who weren’t equipped with a sense of nutrition.

Then came their boutique/café, which has opened onto Mount Pleasant Boulevard for the past three years. Nearby businesses going under provided some suspense for the Costas but, as Vera says, “no challenge means too much comfort.” Just as their café started getting regular business, another challenge was born in Messa Bites. It launched Christmas 2006.

Michael is the artist and in charge of the design work. Their website contains a plethora of images of his cookie canvasses. He manages the rolling, baking and decorating. Vera handles the cookie batters (made from gingerbread) and prettifies the packages. At the same time, they both cook for the boutique.

It’s not only cookies; Vera has rolled out a gourmet line of sweets and squares that are sold wholesale to other Toronto cafés and also made to order. “Wouldn’t you love to receive a batch of freshly baked chocolate chunk cookies with walnuts to your door?”

The company’s strength isn’t the cookie but what’s on the cookie. “There’s a lot of work behind an iced cookie,” Vera says. Her husband designs on paper and brings the images to sugary life atop a cookie. (Michael says it makes him feel like a kid again, “colouring” and drumming up new ideas constantly.) They have more recently added straight-up chocolates to the product line, which Vera said is turning into a success. The designs are based on the season, special occasions, corporate events or themes such as sports, babies and animals. I’m quite sure they could handle a request for any design.

The cost is dependent on shape and how intricate the design needs to be. The baby line of cookies is Messa Bites’ top seller. For a baby shower or newborn celebration, a cookie made into a pacifier, rocking horse, carriage or baby wrapped in a blanket may go for between $2 and $5. Costa said her priciest biscuit would be about half a foot in size and around $5.

All custom orders can last up to three months and are baked at least two weeks before an event – “iced, bagged and labelled,” as Vera put it. She says they’ve had a ton of essentially sleepless nights, catching minimal shuteye due to crunch time orders.

Easter is coming up fast and they’re preparing for even less time with their pillows. They’re whipping up batches of bunnies, eggs, carrots, ducks and chocolate lollipops (to name a few). In mid-April, cookie-lovers can catch the Costas at the Today’s Parent Baby and Toddler Show in Toronto.

Or in their kitchen at any other time, using icing as paint.