A new enterprise is blooming in Waldoboro. The Secret Garden Bakery has teamed up with Fernald’s 5 & 10 on Friendship Street, offering fresh baked goods, coffee, and sandwiches.
Brenda Taylor and her daughter, Emily Taylor of Warren, opened the doors on Mon., Feb. 16 and are planning to expand into the store’s bottom floor by summer, with the entrance where owner Sumner Richards’ garden is.
“Everything is very fresh and trans-fat free,” Brenda said, “and many of these baked goods are my own recipes.” The pistachio chocolate chip cake is one she designed as a teenager, and the muffin recipe was adapted from one taught her by her great-grandmother, who liked to call them “moofins.” The bakery will sell “papa, mama, and baby” muffins.
Among the debut offerings were a chocolate double berry cake with blackberries and raspberries inside and on the top; a lemon Bundt cake with fresh raspberries and lemon curd; and a lemon-lime Bundt cake (“we invented that yesterday,” Emily said) with lime curd.
The chocolate-chili cake appeared to be just like any chocolate Bundt cake, except it had a dash of cayenne pepper and a smidgen of smoky chipotle, neither of which screamed “hot,” but instead intensified the chocolate flavor. “Chili brightens and enhances the chocolate, so it tastes like expensive dark chocolate,” Brenda said. Indeed the only indication of the Mexican influence (think mole sauce) was a slight peppery taste.
Speaking of pepper, a staple of the bakery will be the German pfeffernussen cookies. Made with spicy molasses and pepper, they are shaped like nuts (but they do not have nuts in them) and dusted with powdered sugar.
Brenda has had an in-home cake business since 1972 and operated out of Tenants Harbor for 25 years. She plans to add a new twist after she settles in: do-it-yourself-cake-decorations. For around $25 she will supply a plain frosted cake, and spend an hour teaching the customer how to decorate it. “I’m very excited about it,” she said. “Children particularly will be able to decorate cakes for their loved ones. Nobody’s done anything like that before.”
She will also offer day-old baked goods for half price.
The Secret Garden Bakery will be open weekdays, except for Wednesdays, while school is open (including breaks) from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., and weekends from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Store phone is 832-4624, and Taylors’ home is 226-7449 for special orders.
