CULLMAN, Ala. – The Historic Bakery is now open in downtown Cullman, serving up a variety of specialty donuts, pastries, breads and more.
Co-owner and pastry chef Brittany Miller was busy in the kitchen Friday afternoon making bear claws and said business has been good. The bakery has not yet held its official grand opening, but it is definitely ready to serve customers. It first opened just before Halloween.
Miller said she arrives each morning at 3 a.m. from her home in Hayden and said she is still assembling her team.
“I am still waiting for some of my team to arrive,” she said. “My person who is going to be my right-hand woman is traveling to get here from California, so she is not here just yet.”
Miller said she is excited to be able to bake cakes once her help arrives.
Glazed donuts remain a top seller, she said, but the bakery also offers chocolate, strawberry, Fruity Pebbles and other fun, different flavors.
“I am trying to get people to warm up to the mint chocolate chip; that’s my favorite,” smiled Miller. “We are going to be pushing out different ones like eggnog for Christmas, different stuff, so hopefully they will be willing to dip their toes into the flavored world and try some new stuff.”
The Historic Bakery will continue to add to and rotate its menu to offer different flavors and pastries. It also hopes to provide gluten-free and sugar-free options.
“Fingers crossed, we are going to introduce rye bread, some baguettes and some sour dough. We have a lot of different stuff going on,” said Miller, who has an extensive background in cakes and started as an apprentice at Publix.
“I moved from Publix to Edgar’s. I was there for a while doing cakes. I left there and went to a smaller boutique in Birmingham called Olexa’s,” she said. “I decorated for her for a while and now I am here.”
Miller is a graduate of Wallace State Community College’s Culinary Arts program and has been making cakes professionally for nine years. She has made cakes for weddings, award shows, special occasions and even University of Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban and his daughter. She said she is currently so busy creating all the pastries and donuts, she has had to put cakes on hold for the moment but will be back baking cakes soon.
“We do all types of donuts. That was kind of the idea when we started sitting down and having a conversation about what our idea was for this place. We aren’t trying to be anybody else. We are just trying to do something different and be us and not trying to be a Duchess or be Flavors or try to beat them,” said Miller. “Community is very important to us, and we are just doing our own thing, having a little fun, experimenting, trying new things- the sky’s the limit- just having a fun time. That’s pretty much what we are really doing is figuring out what we want to do, what we want our brand to be and having a lot of fun.”
What about cookies?
Miller laughed, “No cookies. My first experience with Edgar’s when I first started, I started the holiday season. I did SO many sugar cookies I thought my hand was going to fall off. I vowed that I would never do cookies again.”
Miller is open to suggestions and wants to hear what people hope to see at the bakery.
“Stop in and let’s have a friendly conversation,” she smiled.
The Historic Bakery is located next door to 412 Public House at 410 Second Ave. SE and is open from 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. For more information, call 256-841-6688 or visit www.facebook.com/thehistoricbakery or www.historicbakery.com.
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