A Food Network baker took his mom’s pandesal recipe and folded it into a croissant. That hybrid only shows up on Fridays and Saturdays, which feels like a dare.
The display cases glow purple with ube cookies, ube brownies, ube rolls and ube cake. Ube is a purple yam from the Philippines, and it tastes sweet, mellow and a little nutty.
The whole operation started during the pandemic as a home bakery with doorstep drop-offs. Now it has a real storefront on one of Michigan’s most famous streets.
I like how personal this place feels. Every tray seems to carry a family story, a culture and a whole lot of butter.
So how did a homesick craving turn into a bakery people plan their week around?
A Purple-Packed Bakery On Detroit’s Busiest Avenue
Woodward Avenue has plenty of landmarks, but few smell like warm bread rolls. JP Makes and Bakes sits in Detroit’s New Center neighborhood, serving Filipino baked goods and coffee.
The shop is a bakery first, with a coffee counter close behind. Its specialty is blending Filipino flavors with modern pastry techniques, so familiar shapes often hide surprising fillings.
Pandesal is the backbone here. These soft, slightly sweet rolls are a breakfast staple across the Philippines, and the bakery treats them with real respect.
Then there’s the purple. Ube, the Philippine purple yam, turns up in cookies, brownies, rolls and cakes, and it gives the cases a color you can’t miss.
The whole place reflects one baker’s heritage. Owner Jonathan Peregrino is a first-generation Filipino American, and he uses baking to share his culture with Michigan.
Google ratings currently sit at a strong 4.8 stars across more than 160 reviews. That’s a lot of happy mornings for a shop that hasn’t been open very long.
So yes, it’s a bakery. It’s also a pretty sweet introduction to Filipino comfort food, one roll at a time.
From Doorstep Deliveries To A Woodward Storefront
Plenty of people baked bread during the pandemic. Jonathan Peregrino turned his loaves into a business.
His love of baking started in childhood. In 2018, he trained professionally as a pastry chef in the Philippines, connecting his skills directly to his roots.
When the pandemic hit, he missed the Filipino treats he grew up with. So he started making them himself, running a home bakery with doorstep deliveries.
Word spread, and the home bakery grew into pop-ups. Fans could find his treats at events around Detroit before he had a permanent counter.
A national spotlight helped too. In 2020, Peregrino competed on Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship, showing off his skills to a much bigger audience.
The next big step came through Motor City Match, a Detroit small business program. JP Makes and Bakes received a $60,000 grant to help build its brick-and-mortar space.
The storefront opened around October 2024. That’s a fast climb from kitchen counter to Woodward Avenue address.
I can’t imagine a better Michigan small business story. It started with homesickness and ended with a bakery the whole city can visit.
Mom’s Pandesal Recipe Gets A Flaky Makeover
Half pandesal, half croissant, fully worth planning around. The Pan de Croissant is the bakery’s most famous mashup.
Peregrino built it from his mother’s pandesal recipe. Then he layered in classic croissant techniques, creating a hybrid that honors home and pastry school at once.
Here’s the catch. The Pan de Croissant is available only on Fridays and Saturdays, so weekday visitors need patience.
Classic pandesal stays on the menu too. These traditional Filipino rolls are a breakfast habit for many families, often eaten warm with coffee.
The bakery also plays with stuffed versions. One pandesal is filled with cinnamon and chocolate ganache, which sounds like dessert pretending to be breakfast.
Another gets cream cheese and an everything seasoning topping. It’s often called the Pan de Everything, and it reads like a bagel and a pandesal teaming up.
The everything roll leans a little sweet. That’s part of its charm, since the savory topping balances the soft dough.
Good luck choosing just one. Your best move may be a small bag with a few styles for comparison.
Ube Cookies That Steal The Whole Show
Purple food usually looks like a science project. At this Detroit bakery, it looks like the main reason to visit.
Ube cookies are easily the most talked-about item at JP Makes and Bakes. Kids seem to love the bright purple color as much as the flavor.
The ube brownie comes up often too. It’s described as moist and cakey, with flavor that doesn’t go overboard on sweetness.
That lower sweetness matters. People who usually skip sugary pastries may find these treats easier to enjoy, maybe a little too easy.
The ube lineup keeps going. Look for ube rolls, ube buns, an ube hand pie and sometimes an ube kouign amann.
Cakes join the party as well. An ube cake with Oreo frosting has earned attention, along with an ube cheesecake.
Buko pandan cookies make a nice sidekick. Buko means young coconut, and pandan adds a grassy, vanilla-like note that pairs well with ube.
Honestly, the cases look like a sunset in pastry form. It’s hard to leave with only one cookie.
Cassava Cake, Spanish Bread And Other Filipino Favorites
Not everything here is purple. The case also holds a lineup of classic Filipino breads and sweets.
Cassava cake is a favorite. Made from the starchy root vegetable, it has a gentle flavor that many Filipino families know well.
Pan de coco is a soft roll filled with coconut and brown sugar. Spanish bread brings a butter, sugar and breadcrumb filling that tastes cozy.
Bicho bicho, a Filipino donut twist, sits nearby. Think of it as a cousin to the sugared twist many Michiganders grew up eating.
Other items rotate through, including garlic ensaymada and sapin-sapin, a layered rice dessert. Suman malagkit, a sticky rice treat, has appeared too.
The bakery also mixes in non-Filipino hits. Cinnamon sticky buns, bombolini doughnuts and seasonal cakes, like a peach cake, have shown up.
Savory specials appear on a board. Past specials have included ukoy, a shrimp and vegetable fritter, and dinuguan, a rich pork stew.
Those specials change, so they may not be there every visit. That’s a fun excuse to come back often.
Lattes, Soft Serve And A Peek Into The Kitchen
Coffee and pastries are a classic pair. JP Makes and Bakes adds soft serve and Filipino-inspired drinks to the lineup.
The coffee bar serves lattes, tea and chai lattes. A mango calamansi drink called the mangomansi brings bright citrus flavor from a fruit popular in the Philippines.
Soft serve comes in swirled flavors. Past combinations have included ube with lychee and ube with melon, along with a refreshing tamarind sherbet.
Those flavor mixes may rotate. Ask what’s in the machine before deciding, since it could change week to week.
The space itself is small and clean. You can see straight into the kitchen, which makes the baking feel close and personal.
A small merchandise section sells shirts and other goods. It’s a cute way to show off your ube loyalty.
Seating is very limited, with only a couple of tables inside. Weekends can get busy, so plan to take treats home.
There’s some outdoor seating along Woodward. Still, a car picnic with a bag of pastries is a perfectly respectable lunch.
Plan Your Pastry Run Before The Shelves Thin Out
Timing matters at a bakery this popular. JP Makes and Bakes keeps a short weekly schedule, so check before you drive.
The shop sits at 6529 Woodward Ave Ste B, Detroit, MI 48202. That’s in New Center, a short hop from Midtown and Detroit’s main cultural spots.
Hours are currently Wednesday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The bakery is closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Hours can change, so a quick check on official channels before visiting may save a wasted trip.
Remember the Pan de Croissant schedule too. It appears only on Fridays and Saturdays, so plan accordingly if it’s your target.
Items come from the display case, with staff handing them over. Deciding ahead of time can help if a line forms behind you.
Prices are generally considered fair for handmade pastries. That makes a sampler box a pretty smart way to try several items.
Since seating is tight, bring a plan for eating. A nearby park bench or the drive home works nicely.
Why This Purple Pit Stop Earns A Detroit Detour
Some bakeries sell bread. JP Makes and Bakes sells a story about family, heritage and a son carrying his mother’s recipe forward.
That story fits right into Michigan’s immigrant heritage. Detroit has long been shaped by communities who brought their food traditions here.
For Filipino Americans, the bakery offers familiar flavors close to home. For everyone else, it’s a friendly introduction to pandesal, ube and cassava cake.
The menu feels both traditional and playful. Mom’s pandesal becomes a croissant, and ube shows up in nearly every form imaginable.
It suits families, coffee lovers and curious eaters. Kids will likely gravitate toward the purple cookies, while adults may chase the weekend Pan de Croissant.
Just don’t expect a long sit-down visit. This is a grab-a-box, enjoy-later kind of place.
I believe that’s part of the appeal. You leave with a bag of treats and a little piece of Filipino culture to share.
Is it worth the trip from anywhere in Michigan? If ube cookies and warm pandesal sound good, the answer probably already looks purple.
