It's hard not to fall in love with Rawmona. She says things like, "Eat your cake. And if anyone lectures you about your weight, eat them too." Rawmona isn't a real person; she's a stick figure illustration with fruit for clothes, created out of Karla Diaz Cano's love for food, nature and art. Rawmona has existed on greeting cards and wall prints since 2014, but four weeks ago Rawmona's Kitchen showed up in the form of cake jars, muffins and donuts at the NorthWest Crossing Farmers Market.
Diaz Cano, who has baked since she was a kid and has many family members in the food industry, turned her love of making healthy baked goods into a business. They're made with non-GMO, mostly organic ingredients, are gluten-free and contain no refined sugar or artificial flavors. Sometimes the goodies are vegan. Diaz Cano found those clean ingredients made sweets accessible again for people with allergies and dietary restrictions. She says quite a few people tell her no one in Bend was making cakes they can eat until now. The cakes come in flavors including lime and berry, carrot maple cashew and coconut peach.
Diaz Cano says Rawmona is the "child always wanting to eat cake and loves color." She's "the little girl in me that loves to create and play. She's in everything that I make." You can find Rawmona's Kitchen at the NorthWest Crossing Farmers Market until the end of the season or place a custom order online.
