Yesterday was the first National Bakery Day, a marketing exercise by the Retail Bakers of America. Sure, I’ll take the bait. Like any good patriot, I felt duty bound to observe the occasion.
My celebration coincided with a trip to New England. To warm up for the big day, I started on Wednesday, when I visited Lil’s Cafe in Kittery, Maine. I had the cruller, the house specialty, plus a pumpkin whoopie pie. I don’t have much expertise with crullers, so it piqued my curiosity. The last time I had one, it was at the buzzy Du’s Donuts in Brooklyn and I failed to grasp the purported magic of the product. It was enjoyable, but I wasn’t mesmerized. This cruller had a somewhat loose interior reminiscent of egg bread, challah or the pleasant popover I earlier enjoyed at Popovers on the Square in Portsmouth, NH.
My visit to Kittery included a stop at Beach Pea Baking Co. for a lemon ginger cookie sandwich and a scone. I saved most of the scone for Thursday, when it spontaneously became part of a photo op.
On National Bakery Day proper, I had Bienenstich cake for breakfast at Kaffe Vonsolln in Portsmouth. This German bee sting cake is filled with pastry cream and topped with honeyed almonds. Breakfast of champions on National Bakery Day, to be sure.
Afterward, I travelled from Portsmouth to Boston. I made my best attempt to compose an artistic picture outside South Station. Here is my Beach Pea scone striking a pose with the portable Wicked Good Cupcakes I had bought Tuesday at Quincy Market. This was my first hands-on research about the Wicked Good phenomenon and I’m grateful to have checked that first exposure off my list.
Being a fervent patriot, I couldn’t help but embellish my celebration with a final impulse buy: Baking with Joy chocolate chip toffee cookies from the Dewey Square farmer’s market by South Station.
I boarded my D.C.-bound train with the knowledge that my celebration would continue tastefully for the next two weeks, centered around mass quantities of the Sprinkles olive oil cupcake. Leaping dramatically from coast to coast, I’m transfixed by the essential Californianess of this atypical cupcake, returning to the menu for a limited time.
It was delightful to bakery hop as a patriotic exercise, even if it’s my focus the remaining 364 days a year as well. What a supremely memorable National Bakery Day it was.
My agenda was set thanks to this Eater Boston Portsmouth/Kittery guide, which made it effortless to eat baked goods – I mean, conduct research – in the area.
Andrea Adleman | Cupcakologist 