Sweet, a bakery and café formerly known as Fisher’s, in Ellicott City, may have changed hands, but it still has the same stellar reputation for delicious desserts. Offering fresh pies, cookies, cakes, breads, and desserts aplenty, it is also known for its wedding and specialty cakes. Add to that an extensive breakfast, brunch, and lunch menu, and you’ve got one sweet café. (Sweet, 8143 Main Street, Ellicott City)
One of the few bakeries left in operation that cooks everything from scratch, Fenwick Bakery is so inconspicuous—disguised as a small, brick-front row home on Harford Road— it’s easy to miss. But this mom-and-pop bakery has been serving up more than 15 kinds of pies, 7 different pound cakes, and donuts galore for generations. With a great selection of assorted rolls, breads, pastries, homemade cakes, and cupcakes, it’s clear everything is made with a generous dash of love. (Fenwick Bakery Inc., 7219 Harford Road, Parkville)
Short and sweet
So how can a sweet tooth on a diet survive the sugary month of October? Don’t worry.
Bite-size desserts are in for 2008, said 83% of chefs in the National Restaurant Association’s What’s Hot . . . What’s Not Internet survey.
“The trend of small plates is definitely hot, including offering tasting menus of small portions of food [and] wine or other alcoholic beverages,” said John Kinsella, president of the American Culinary Federation and senior chef instructor at Midwest Culinary Institute in Cincinnati.
It’s pumpkin time!
To celebrate National Dessert Month, here is one of Oak Crest Executive Chef Joseph Bollinger’s favorite dessert recipes for you to try at home:
Pumpkin ginger Bundt
Ingredients:
3 cups brown sugar
3 cups granulated sugar
2 cups oil
2 cups eggs
¾ cup water
¾ cup molasses
2 lbs pumpkin, preferably Libby’s canned pumpkin
1 ¼ Tbsp ginger
1 ½ tsp allspice
1 ½ tsp ground cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp baking soda
¾ Tbsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Directions:
Mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and eggs together. Add oil, then water, molasses, and pumpkin. Sift remainder of dry ingredients together.
Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix until just combined, scraping often. Don’t over-mix.
Grease pans heavily then fill ¾ of the way up.
Bake at 350° F until knife inserted comes out clean, about 30–40 minutes.
Yields approximately three small seven-inch pans or one large Bundt pan.