Egusto Recipes

The challenge

Egusto needed a recipe platform that worked like a modern web application — not a static blog. Users had to be able to seamlessly search for recipes, discover collections, and browse ingredients, while authors needed intuitive tools to publish rich multimedia content.

Performance and cost-efficiency were critical. Searching required advanced functionality (like finding recipes by prep-time, ingredients, or cuisine) without heavily increasing database latencies or relying on expensive third-party search engines.

What we built

An edge-native, blazingly fast rewrite on a dual-stack hybrid architecture:

• Frontend Architecture: Astro with React to perfectly balance static content with interactive islands, ensuring excellent web vitals while keeping complex drag-and-drop editorial features fully functional.
• Search & Database: Cloudflare D1 (Serverless SQLite) with native FTS5 full-text search implementation for instant, cost-effective searches handled directly at the edge.
• Content platform: A custom-built admin CMS allowing drag-and-drop recipe building (via Pragmatic Drag and Drop), deep categorizing, dynamic ingredient conversion, and image optimization.
• Edge Backend: Rapid API routes via Hono handling complex operations, alongside integrated authentication supported by Lucia Auth.

Results

• By leveraging Astro and Cloudflare edge, time to first byte and general loading significantly outperformed the previous legacy setup.
• Allowed editors to seamlessly construct step-by-step recipes utilizing immediate preview interfaces rather than antiquated form posts.
• Provided real-time, highly available search queries relying entirely on native SQLite features distributed across the Cloudflare network, eradicating third-party enterprise search costs.

What we learned

Running a highly dynamic web application on the edge using Cloudflare serverless SQLite and Astro is an incredibly potent pattern for content-heavy sites. Keeping the CMS coupled strictly behind edge boundaries rather than a disconnected monolithic backend significantly eases deployment and maintenance without compromising on the user experience.