With so many bakeries to choose from in central Ohio, how can you possibly pick the right one?
At CityScene, we figured the best way to pick a bakery is to find out what each one does best. So we asked 10 of the Columbus area’s top contenders a simple question: What do you do better than anyone else?
Click on to our gallery learn the specialties of these sultans of sweet, princes of pastry and dukes of dough.
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Vegan Victory
A vegan with a sweet tooth is certain to be happy at the Angry Baker, located in Olde Towne East. Not all the items on the shop’s menu are vegan, of course – the brioche caramel cinnamon roll, for instance, is a heavy hitter among customers, says owner Vicki Hink. But the Angry Baker has definitely gotten a reputation for top-notch vegan treats, such as the vegan trail mix cookie, which has pecans, chocolate chips, cranberries, walnuts, coconut and a lot of vanilla. “For customers and for workers here, it’s quickly become everyone’s addiction,” says kitchen manager Allison Bradley.
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A Winning Combination
You may have read that croissant-doughnut hybrids called “cronuts” are all the rage in New York nowadays, but they’ve been available in Columbus since 1991. That’s when Rosario Auddino, co-owner of Auddino’s Bakery & Café in Hilliard – the shop has only been open since 2012, but it’s a spin-off of Auddino’s Italian Bakery, which has been in business in the Linden area since 1968 – invented the Doughssant, essentially fried croissant dough. It’s tough to make, Auddino says – an item consisting almost entirely of butter is hard to get into a vat of vegetable oil properly – but Doughssants are huge hits among customers and can sometimes be even lighter than a standard croissant. “Nobody can really duplicate it around this area,” says Auddino.
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Stick or Treat
Pies, dinner rolls and doughnuts are a few of the items that have helped Der Dutchman Bakery make a name for itself, but visitors’ favorite is known by many names. Whether you call them long johns, éclairs or – as is popular in Plain City, where the bakery and its associated restaurant are located – cream sticks, the iced, cream-filled pastries are among the offerings for which Der Dutchman is famous. They take four hours to make, and their popularity is such that many a weekend customer is likely to get the larger-than-normal treats right as they come out of the kitchen. “We’re famous for our huge long johns,” says Dan Yoder, bakery manager. “They’re probably double the size of a typical long john, cream stick or éclair.”
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A Glance at France
Though the shop has 37 years of history behind it, one of French Loaf Bakery’s most popular items is a relatively new addition. The Dewey’s Cake – named for the partnership with nearby Dewey’s Pizza through which the recipe was developed – is a heavy favorite among customers of the Fifth by Northwest-based French bakery, says co-owner Marijon Lococco. The milk chocolate and white chocolate shavings are only the tip of the iceberg. “It’s a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and buttercream, and then we put chocolate ganache over the top so it hardens,” Lococco says. “It is just fabulous.”
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Original Cinnamon
The Original Goodie Shop’s warnings about the addictive properties of its cinnamon sticks are tongue-in-cheek, but some of the bakery’s staunchest devotees might wonder. The 50-plus-year-old Upper Arlington bakery, which used to be known as the Tremont Goodie Shop, lists the cinnamon sticks as its undisputed best-sellers. They’re made of sweet roll dough, with Korintje cinnamon, sugar and a brown sugar glaze on top. “It’s kind of layered like baklava would be, except it’s our sweet roll dough and sugar,” says manager Emilie Smith.
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Bread Alert
The pastries are popular, but at Juergens German Bakery and Restaurant in German Village, it’s the bread that reigns supreme. Six-grain, multigrain and challah are among customers’ favorites, and all the breads are free of preservatives, owner Rosemarie Keidel is quick to point out. But near the top of the list is a thick, crusty-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside bread that’s as much fun to eat as to say: mischbrot. “It’s made with rye and wheat flour mixed together,” Keidel says.
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Life on Marzipan
Those may look like apples, oranges and potatoes in the display case at Mozart’s Bakery and Piano Café, but don’t be fooled – they’re made of a material not often seen in American bakeries. Items made from marzipan, an almond-based confection popular in Europe, tend to arrest the eyes and taste buds of customers at Clintonville-based Mozart’s, says owner Anand Saha. Not only is it tasty – and a specialty of Switzerland-trained baker Doris Saha, Anand’s wife – it can be formed into a wide variety of interesting shapes, from fruit to dolphins. “It’s very big in Europe, doing anything with almond paste, and I think we do it better than anybody else,” Anand says.
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Special Occasions
Just as each cause for celebration is different, so is every occasion cake made by Mrs. Goodman’s Baking Co. different – but common threads make them among the bakery’s best-loved items. Dots, spirals, balloons and fireworks are just some of the most basic decorations that can go on the cakes, but the Worthington-based bakery’s decorators can draw any number of complex images. And any can come with the shop’s signature buttercream icing. “It’s been our loved signature icing for nearly three decades,” says owner Lee Alderman. “Enjoying it together with our cake is like a sweet dream come true.”
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Booyah, Grandma
East side-based Resch’s Bakery has more than 100 years of history, and its signature grandma rolls have found a special place in residents’ hearts for generations. The bakery sees many customers who loved the rolls as kids come in to pick them up for their own children – or even their grandchildren. The rolls, sold by the half-dozen, are made of sweet dough and covered with white icing and pecans – similar to cinnamon rolls, but with no cinnamon. “People will come in and get packs of those, and then take them back (home) to California,” says Kelly Resch, who helps run the bakery.
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Go Nuts for Doughnuts
Ask any Otterbein University student what he or she craves from Schneider’s Bakery in Westerville. If you get an answer other than “doughnuts,” consider that student’s response an aberration. Doughnuts are the bakery’s most popular type of baked good, from glazed to chocolate iced cream-filled. The honey buns covered in nuts and icing – known as nut toppers – are among the best-sellers. Jeff Hamler credits the doughnuts’ popularity to the bakery’s policy of making them, including all cream filling, from scratch. “Hardly anybody’s making doughnuts from scratch anymore … but there are still a few of us,” says Hamler.
