Rockin’ summer fruit with showstopping style
On the stage or in the kitchen, Dyana O’Brien really rocks. The Sacramento singer with a knack for creating sweets and sourdough goes by “The Rockabilly Baker,” a name she concocted from her twin flames of singing and baking.
She gained an international following in 2023 as a finalist on “The Great American Baking Show,” a spin-off of “The Great British Bake Off,” which is filmed in London. O’Brien even earned a coveted “Hollywood handshake” from host Paul Hollywood for her “Bread Week” showstopper.
“When I got cast for the show, I made cakes — that was my specialty. So I started baking bread every day,” O’Brien says of her practice routine. “I was so worried that I would get sent home during Bread Week.”
What she presented the judges was impressively fowl: A “duck” sculpture of chocolate-orange milk bread with a bagel “head,” black sesame seed “beak,” and sage and sea salt fougasse “wings.” The masterpiece was accompanied by little “duckling” steamed buns with tomato-basil filling.
How does a baker top that? O’Brien also earned high praise for her pineapple illusion cake, which looked — and tasted — like a real pineapple. “Paul said it was one of the best pineapple illusion cakes he’s ever seen,” she recalls.
O’Brien also wows Sacramento-area crowds with her band, Dyana and The Cherry Kings. Their summer gigs include Carmichael’s Concerts in the Park and an appearance at Sacramento’s Discovery Park. Her infectious dance music gets listeners on their feet. She often rewards her audience with home-made treats. “We love playing in the park,” O’Brien says. “All the swing dancers come out. It’s really fun.”
For her husband, Loehl, twin daughters, friends, and Instagram followers, O’Brien bakes gorgeous goods on a weekly basis, as well as other delights. Her social media “Cake of the Week” posts tends to be “cute and whimsical or vintage, such as red velvet cake or seven-minute frosting; a lot of oldies but goodies,” she describes.
O’Brien credits her mother for her love of both music and baking. “My mom always sang,” she recalls. “I just loved music, any type. Rockabilly is such feel-good music, and I love to swing dance.” Her signature song is “Baby I Don’t Care,” an upbeat swinging tune that’s been covered by countless musicians.
As for baking, O’Brien says she started in the kitchen at age 3, cracking eggs for her mom’s cakes. An early adventure in cake decorating turned the family’s tan dog green. “I’ve been baking as long as I can remember,” says O’Brien, who makes macarons and sourdough bread every week. With the summer months, O’Brien’s taste turns to luscious fruit fresh from the farmers’ market, and recipes that require less, if any, baking time.
“In summer, I love things that don’t require the oven,” she says. “When it’s 110 degrees, you don’t want the oven on for hours. I love grilled fruit in summer. Or pavlova; it needs the oven but only on low … In summer, raspberries are my go-to; I use them in all sorts of recipes. I love marionberries; I’m from Oregon, so I can’t resist them. I love nectarines, too.”
Shortcake often forms the base for that summer fruit. “I love working with biscuits — shortcake is basically like a biscuit,” she notes. But hers are not plain old shortcakes; O’Brien brightens their flavor with tea, spices, extracts, or other flavorings. For example, the shortcake base of her tangy Peaches and Cream Dream uses buttermilk, vanilla paste, almond extract, and rose water.
As for toppings, ripe and juicy peaches are a first choice, “but you could substitute nectarines, apricots, even plums would be great,” she says. “Pretty much any stone fruit works with shortcake. Or strawberries, of course, but with black pepper and balsamic [vinegar]. That’s really good.”
To add pops of extra flavor, O’Brien often uses fruit powders, such as raspberry or cherry. Homemade flavored powders can be made by pulverizing freeze-dried fruit in the food processor. Fruit powders also add color. For Easter, O’Brien made three pavlovas each in a different flavor and color, thanks to fruit powders. “I make pavlovas all the time,” she shares. “I like to make large ones with wow factor, but you can also make them small.”
Cherries Jubilee, the classic ice cream-based dessert, inspired her latest variation, sour cherry pavlova with cherries jubilee and cherry yogurt cream.”
People don’t realize how light pavlovas are; they’re light as a cloud because they’re a big meringue. They’re such a light dessert, served with cold cream and fruit. They’re definitely one of my family favorites for sure. A lot of times, I just macerate the fruit [in sugar] for the topping; it’s super easy.”
Bakers in other parts of the country can be challenged by summer pavlovas as they need dry heat. “Humidity can be an issue [in making pavlova or meringue], but not in Sacramento,” O’Brien adds with a laugh. “And you can bake them at such a low temperature, you don’t heat the house up.”
The summer nights are the perfect occasion for not only indulging in O’Brien’s fresh fruit-topped desserts but also her lively musical performances across the Sacramento area.
