Annie's Cookie Factory & Pastry Shop

Annie here! 

​Today I wanted to talk to you about baking from scratch and the misconception given to customers when buying pastries. I don't know about you but every bakery I've ever visited claims they are "baking from scratch, with only the finest and freshest of ingredients" (hate to say it but that's a common lingo in this business). Now in many cases that is true, there are many bakeries who spend countless hours and money bringing you fresh baked goods and yes, made from scratch. But what is "baked from scratch"? Baking from scratch is a way of saying that you are using all natural ingredients without the aid of any product that is already prepared, it means using raw base ingredients instead of those that have been preassembled. Just because you've added real canola oil and eggs, does not a scratch cake make! Artificial ingredients are harmful to your health and are manufactured in labs, while baking with pure and natural ingredients gives you the option of eliminating ingesting basically poison in your body . See, who said you can't have your cake and eat it too. Ok, so now we've got it. If you are not using real flour, eggs, butter, milk, vanilla extract, etc., you are not baking from scratch. This is where some bakeries have consumer's fooled, and customer's buy it (literally) hook, line and sinker. The real question of the day is "How can you tell the difference?" If your a pastry chef or seasoned baker then you get a gold star, 9 out of 10 you know what I'm talking about. For the average consumer, we've got some learning to do and let me warn you it's not gonna be easy. The only way your going to tackle this riddle is to pay attention to some tale, tale signs. If you enter a bakery and there are numerous cakes in the cooler and they all look exactly like, they are processed cakes! I don't know one baker who can make multiple cakes from scratch and they all come out the exact way each and every time. If you enter a bakery and the coolers are filled to the brim with pastries and your being told they are fresh baked daily, don't fall for it. Baking from scratch is a time consuming endeavor and there is no way any bakery can fill up their showcases each and every day with products made that day. These pastries are most likely prepackaged or made from mixes. I'm going to back up and contradict myself for a moment here. Although what I just mentioned may be the case many bakeries that do bake from scratch also fresh freeze their pastries. Don't be afraid! Natural baked goods that have been frozen can remain that way for weeks and will be just as fresh and tasty when thawed. Frozen does not mean old! Another sign is the weight of a cake. A cake from scratch will have you visiting your chiropractor within a day of getting it home, while a made from box cake will prove to be lighter and easily transported with minimal effort. As for costs it can't be helped that a made from scratch cake is going to cost you considerably higher than a boxed version. Natural ingredients are expensive but if you want that quality and delicious flavor than the quality should outweigh the additional cost. 

Well, I guess that's about it, I know I've gotten a little long winded yet I hope this post has helped you a bit to understand the difference between the two types of baking and how easy it is to be fooled. In case your wondering, yes at Annie's we bake everything from scratch; come in and try our pastries for yourself. We guarantee you'll see the difference. Oh by the way, wheel barrels are sold separately. 

​