Lexington, KY - Like many bakeries across the country, Bluegrass Baking Company has been getting back to the basics of making healthier products with natural ingredients.
According to Bakery Management editor Paula Frank, consumer desire for healthier foods has become a major trend for bakeries nationwide, and that includes an increasing popularity for whole grain breads. Jim Betts and his staff at Bluegrass Baking Company meet that demand with baguettes, ciabatta and an array of other artisanal-style breads.
"We mix a cooler dough and let it rise longer, so we don't have to add sugar or fat for flavor," Betts explained.
Betts uses butter or soybean oil and untreated flours to bake breads and pastries that are closer to the natural ingredients, instead of being loaded with preservatives.
"There's definitely a movement toward that type of bread, moving away from sandwich bread. It's a small percentage [of all bread sold], but it's doubled in recent years," he explained.
Another growing trend is buying ingredients from local farmers, a practice started years ago and popularized by Alice Waters, the chef at Chez Panisse in California. Betts buys local eggs, fruits and vegetables from the Lexington Farmers Market. Bluegrass Baking Company has also recently started selling sandwiches for lunch. Among the ingredients bought locally are herbs and vegetables for pesto mayonnaise and chipotle pepper mayonnaise.
Betts is also responding to today's more environmentally conscious consumer by purchasing corn-based, biodegradable paper supplies, coffee cups and eating ware.
And then, of course, there's the bread. The most popular breads Bluegrass sells are Seven Grain, Spicy Mushroom and baguettes. Customers wanting desserts most often buy chocolate croissants, chocolate mousse cakes or tarts, and fruit tarts, Betts said.
The popularity of individual desserts, which help customers have a sweet treat while controlling calorie intake, has been growing. "We don't serve big portions," Betts said. "Often two people will share a fruit tart."
The trend of portion control is also evident at Sweet Magnolia Bakery. "We sell a lot by the slice - pie, cheesecake and cake," said owner Connie Minix. One of her customers who exemplifies this trend is a man who lost 150 pounds and has kept the weight off for six years. "He comes in every week for his dessert treat and also allows himself pasta once a week," she said.
While buying a bakery treat in a smaller portion size is a national trend, Minix has offered the by-the-slice choice in her bakeries for years, along with cakes, cheesecakes and pound cakes in smaller as well as the typical sizes.
Her best-selling items include samplers, which contain two pieces each of five different items. The pie sampler has pecan, chess, Kentucky bourbon, brownie and fudgie peanut butter. The cake sampler includes slices of strawberry, Italian cream, chocolate, carrot and white.
Other popular items at Sweet Magnolia are apple pie and triple berry pie, which contains blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. "We make our own dough, icing, sandwich spreads for lunch, everything from scratch," Minix explained. "People are starving for quality ingredients."
"We do sugar-free pies, but sugar-free cakes are not great, so we don't make them," she added.
Portion control gave rise to the national cupcake craze, but Minix said cupcakes have been popular at her bakeries for years. "They're also convenient and that's a trend," she said. "You can hold a cupcake in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other hand."
Cupcakes are also big at Caramanda's Bake Shoppe, which has just opened a second location on Boston Road. The bestselling cupcakes are chocolate swirl, red velvet and strawberry. Ten to 12 flavors are always available, with another 10 or so offered in rotation. One of the newest flavors is key lime.
Toppings are also a trend, perhaps carried over from ice cream bars, and Caramanda's cupcakes are all embellished. Candies, swirls of colored frosting, sugar and edible glitter add to the eye appeal of the treats.
"Health concerns are definitely driving cupcake sales," said Steve Henderson, co-owner, with his wife, Melissa. "And The Food Network has helped bakeries. There are a lot of shows about cakes."
Cakes account for 65 percent of Caramanda's business. "We're one of the few places to do sculptured cakes," Henderson explained. "Everything on the cake is edible, and we don't use plastic toys."
Caramanda's multi-tiered wedding cakes have fondant bows that look identical to white satin. Cakes shaped like frogs, sunken ships, soft drink bottles and other items look too real to eat.
With the Sunday Farmers' Market scarcely a cupcake's throw from Caramanda's door, Henderson buys fruit there whenever possible, following another restaurant trend.
While these three local bakeries don't share every national trend in restaurants and bakeries, they all suggest that treats, in moderation, are a part of healthy eating and gracious entertaining.