Bakehouse celebrating first anniversary

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It has been one-year since bakehouse officially opened its colorful pink door, offering up an array of tasty treats for community members to enjoy.

Located at 116 S. Spring St. in Manchester, owner Brianne Melcher said the bakery will be celebrating its official birthday with complementary cake slices and a visit from the Brass Horn Coffee Roasters mobile espresso cart during normal business hours Saturday May 11.

Reflecting on her first year of business, Melcher said reaching that milestone in business feels “surprising.”

“You never know when you start a business if it is going to make it or not,” she said from a sidewalk table in front of the bakery. “It came up really quickly, so time flies, and yeah it is a shock.”

Melcher operates the bakery alongside her husband Grey, who has taken over cinnamon roll duty from Brianne.

“I haven’t made a cinnamon roll in like seven months,” she said. “He makes all of them. He makes the breakfast cookies, he does a lot of prep work.”

“He is a great baker apparently, turns out,” Melcher added.

A year out from their grand opening, Melcher said business has remained consistent, and they continue to see a lot of repeat customers coming through the bakery door.

“I feel so much gratitude and happiness about it,” Melcher said. “I think the biggest takeaway is just the support that everyone has given us.”

Now, in addition to its retail business, bakehouse also began wholesaling its products as well as offering up a selection of custom cakes that can be preordered.

“I didn’t do custom cakes in the beginning because I didn’t have the time,” Melcher said. “We started doing in the last five months or so more regularly. That has been really fun, that is one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen.”

Customers can choose from three different cake flavors that change with the seasons with all cakes coming in at three-layers in either six-inch, eight-inch or nine-inch options.

“Right now I am doing a white velvet butter cake with a mixed citrus curd and a Swiss meringue citrus buttercream,” Melcher said. “I am also doing a dark cocoa devil’s food cake with fresh blackberries and chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream and I always have my carrot cake.”

Those flavors will remain available through the month of May, before Melcher will switch up the flavors for summer.

In addition to expanding its offerings, bakehouse has also been able to add three employees during its first year of business. The additions have allowed Melcher to cut down from what were 18 hour days to a more manageable 12.

One thing that Melcher said has been apparent throughout the past 12 months has been the support received from members of the community.

“The biggest learning experience, one I think is that I really underestimated, was the community’s level of support and loyalty to what I assume is people who are kind to them and make a good product,” she said. “That makes me want to keep doing even better because I want to please the people that have been so kind to us.”

Bakehouse is open 7 a.m. until Noon, Wednesday through Saturday. For more information, visit the bakehouse Facebook page.