"bakeshop" news and stories

I ate my Danish for D-day but didn't get a chance to write about it. Now, I do.

This Danish is... literally... six inches across. It's the most decadent thing for breakfast within a good 17-mile radius, scented with cinnamon and butter, dotted with crumb topping crumbles, sparkling with icing and swirled with raspberry jam. These delectable pastries, in a variety of flavors and many studded with whole blueberries or sliced local peaches, are baked fresh every day by Bowers Bakery in Portland. Just wait until you see the height of this ultra-yummy pastry.

It's been a lot of fun following along as Kelli from Lovescool starts her own bakery. In a particularly detailed look into the mechanics of creating hundreds of champagne brownies for her first shipment, she reports that selecting brownies as her first product was a challenge; mostly because it's hard to tell from the surface if your pan is done. "I would advise people to start with a nice and simple product like cookies where you can immediately tell if they are done or not," she says.

It made me think about the dream both I and practically everyone I know shares somewhere deep inside: that I should open a bakery/restaurant/cafe someday. "This is so wonderful, you should sell it!" exclaim your friends. "Why don't you open a ___ shop?" everyone at work asks you.

But what is it? What recipe have you perfected so assiduously that it would be the obvious choice if you were to open a bakery? For me, it changes from season to season, but my friend Larissa and I have lately been dreaming about opening a cupcake bakery and selling our products at our favorite local farmer's market. What about you?

[photo Sarah Gilbert]