When I return home with quiche for breakfast, cupcakes for my daughter’s sleepover and a homemade nutter butter for myself, I am smitten. It’s a good Saturday morning.
Sugar Ray Baking Co. in downtown Bangor (20 State St.) has become a part of my Saturday routine over the last few months. That’s why it was no surprise when just after 8:30 a.m., a friend texted me “Cinnamon rolls!” and I knew just what he meant.
After all, we’ve run into each other before on an early Saturday morning at the bakery, both bleary eyed and pastry-seeking. And we’d just been trading messages, trying to discern the optimal time for a bakery run. He thinks between 8:30 and 9 a.m. is best. It’s been hit or miss then for me, but I keep searching for that perfect time when the bakery case is full.
When I head downtown, I’m rewarded with a selection of cupcakes and cookies, the aforementioned cinnamon rolls, scones and even quiche. Maybe he’s right about the timing after all. Or maybe I need to ask another friend. After all, there are several of us constantly trading bakery case information and social media announcements.
I became a fan of the bakery shortly after it opened last year but fell into the weekend routine earlier this year, stopping in for weekend provisions. Usually I pick up something for breakfast, a dessert and a treat — things we’ll eat over a few days.
Having a favorite bakery is a bit like having a favorite band. It’s the first choice when the mood strikes, but you can love others too. That’s why some evenings, I stop by the legendary Frank’s Bake Shop (199 State St., Bangor) on the way home for dessert. When I am outside the Bangor area where I live, I try to sample other bakeries.
Last year when my son had a track meet in Lewiston, for instance, I ordered bagels from Forage Market (180 Lisbon St.) and left with plenty of time to also swing by The Italian Bakery (225 Bartlett St.). I’d heard good things about both bakeries and wanted to try them when I was in the area. The crisp outsides and tender, airy insides of the sourdough bagels at Forage Market weren’t the New York style bagel I was looking for, but they were divine in their own right. Months later, I am still thinking about them.
The Italian Bakery, in particular, reminded me of the bakeries I grew up with in upstate New York — the aroma of butter and sugar and flour so strong that you smell it before you even walk in the shop. Inside, display cases were teeming with desserts, breads and confections that made my mouth water as I wondered how much was too much to bring home.
When I was a child, it was The Pastry Garden in Poughkeepsie, New York, that was our family’s go-to bakery. That was our preferred spot for picking up cakes for special occasions. It was also where our weekend bakery routine led to. On Sundays after church, my parents and I would stop there for butter cookies in a variety of flavors and shapes.
Later, when my children and I were living in Connecticut, we made a similar stop every Sunday after church, getting a treat for later before heading to the library.
Here in Maine, we’ve been lucky to have more options for bakeries becoming available, offering different treats and flavors and experiences. A new bakery in Searsport, Amandine (357 W. Main St.), for instance, has been offering a variety of croissants in flavors like pistachio rosewater double baked croissants along with an array of danishes, turnovers, cheesecakes and more. Yes, they have savory items too — but I am caught on their sweet selections. I have Amandine on my to-try list, though I honestly don’t know when I will. The attraction of routine is too strong. Why drive 45 minutes for pastries when we have good options nearby? But that is the power of the neighborhood bakery. It becomes part of the fabric of our lives — an element of the routine.
Still, I keep adding bakeries to my list so that when I find myself in Camden (The Place Bakery where croissant bread has me intrigued) or Rockland (Home Kitchen Bakery with its mini chocolate cream pies, array of cupcakes and so much more) or Portland (too many to name! But Bread and Friends and Bake Maine both are on my radar) at just the right time, I don’t forget to sample them.
On that recent Saturday, I stood in the bakery waiting my turn and texted my friend, “snickerdoodle cupcakes too!” The routine and connection isn’t just about where we go, it’s about the people it connects us to.
