Umpleby's Bakery & Café

I never look forward to this time of the year.  All my great college aged staff who have been working here over the summer are getting ready to go back to school in a few weeks.  That means I have to find new staff to replace them.  We are therefore hiring for front of the house positions for the end of August / beginning of September.  If you are interested please fill out an application and send it in to us!

Weddings are celebrations of life,   promising new beginnings and love.   Bakers are lucky in that we have an opportunity to be a part of these celebrations in the form of the wedding cake.  That familiar tiered creation is seen at many of these joyous events.  We are honored to say that we have made many over the years for couples and, while they can be stressful to make, it  is always a very proud moment to deliver the cake to the wedding reception site and know that two people are starting their lives together by sharing a piece of what we have created for them.

But not all couples have wedding cakes as their dessert choice.   We have instead done quite a few weddings with small desserts as the finish to the wedding dinner rather than the traditional tiered wedding cake.  Small desserts offer an attractive alternative in that we can create a multitude of different flavors and textures and shapes a guest can choose from that a wedding cake can’t replicate.   From a visual point of view a table filled with 100 or more small desserts is quite a dramatic presentation.

We are very fortunate to have had the opportunity to make such desserts over the past couple years for a local caterer, The Barefoot Gourmet of Thetford, VT.  Barry Clarke, the proprietor, is a fantastic chef with a flair for using ingredients and flavors that are far from ordinary.  The picture I am posting here is a sampling of desserts that I made for him that he took in connection with an upcoming  wedding he was bidding for.  He got the gig so he will be doing the cooking of  the main course and such and I will be making the small desserts.

So think small – small desserts that is,  for your celebration whether it be a wedding or maybe just a fun party you want to host.  And think Umpleby’s as your baker for them!

I have been meaning to post this for a while and now I will.  We are in the current Yankee Summer Issue that features the Best of New England.  We are listed under the category of the Best Bakery Dish in New Hampshire!  And that dish is our beloved meat pies and sausage rolls.

I was turned on to making them while working at a small cafe in Melbourne, Australia.  Carlton to be exact.  Go Carlton Blues!    That was 18 or so years ago.  And I’ve been making them ever since.   You can get them here at the cafe or at the outdoor Norwich Farmers’ Market every Saturday from 9 to 1.    Try one and you’ll be hooked!  And Bob’s your uncle!