Slowly fleshing out plans for my apartment bakehouse. Slowly making my way back to baking pan dulce for customers (on an insanely small scale) after 3 years of rest, reflection and recovery (from the most discouraging burn out). Slowly losing my mind in the process but it’s all good.
The bakehouse (I don’t have a name for it yet) will be open some weekends only, with a very limited number of slots for orders. My current plan is to bake 1 weekend every month, and maybe open it up to 2 weekends during the holidays. Although that alone already feels like I’m pushing it…eeek!
The menu will also be small and seasonal, consisting of 5-6 flavors of pan dulce. It’s possible I’ll expand to doughnuts or cinnamon rolls at some point. I’m embracing working with dough and dough only.
With this movement, I’ve been reflecting on why I am coming back to selling pastries. Especially after reminiscing about all the back pain, long nights and severe social anxiety I experienced running my previous cottage bakery (cakelamb, rest in peace). Why come back? Or rather, why do I keep coming back?
My baking this time around is not so much rooted in nostalgia (which I put a heavy emphasis on previously) as much as it is wanting to nourish. There’s a chance I will serve a concha that will likely stray from what you remember having as a child, while still being true and real. I cannot replicate what everyone has experienced. But I can offer what I think will be just what you need, right now. From me. I can promise pastries made with soul, whole ingredients, and precious, valuable time.
I’m worried about all sorts of things, of course. But I worry a lot, in general. So why not just do the damn thing anyway?
All that being said, if you are located in the DFW area, hello there. I’ll be baking and selling conchas from my small apartment kitchen located in Plano. An announcement of sorts will be made on Instagram soon.
Another note…
So, I kind of want to try something.
Sometimes people in other states will ask if I ship, and rather than just decline, I try to refer them to a baker based on where they are located.
If you are a bakery (cottage or not) owner that serves pan dulce (or you know of someone who does), please consider entering your bakery info onto this google spreadsheet. I love referring other bakers to customers, both locally and nationally.
Maybe we can start a little online panaderia support club…though I’m certain one already exists online, somewhere.
As always, thank you for reading. <3
Channey~
Good luck! I wish I were in your area, but if I'm ever in Texas, I know where to go! I also really like your idea with the pan dulce spreadsheet. I know there are a few panaderias in my area that don't have much of an online presence (some of them don't even have a Yelp page), so it's hard to find out about them unless you're local.
Onward and upward always!