A Baker’s Wife Pastry Shop
Sugar Cherry Cake Donut
Maple Glaze Cake Donut
Russian Tea Cookie
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Good Morning Bun
Mankato Butter Bar
American Tea Cake
Located in the sleepy Powderhorn neighborhood of Minneapolis it was prior to opening on Saturday that the car was parked outside A Baker’s Wife, an early arrival straight off the Red-Eye allowing one to witness owners Gary and Margaret Mossberg Tolle plus their team stack shelves and countertops before opening doors to a steady stream of traffic at 6:30am.
Serving locals a variety of baked goods for several decades, an adherence to time-tested techniques yielding some fifty items including loaves of Bread, Bars, Cookies and more seven days a week, it was after allowing a handful of regulars to place well-rehearsed orders that decisions were made, a grand total of just $13.30 yielding more than two pounds of Flour, Sugar and Butter that were taken to a table outside to eat.
Unsurprisingly finding most of the items still warm at such an early hour, two Donuts in particular generating a bit of steam in the damp September air, it was beginning with these that rumors of greatness unfortunately came up short as a result of each ring’s crumbly inside, the flavors otherwise pleasant but still not “great” in comparison to Donut-specific shops while the next taste of two Cookies was far better, the Oatmeal Raisin chewy and moist while a flattened “Russian Tea Ball” cracked crisp but melted on the tongue with a lengthy linger of Butter and Almond Flour.
Certainly not a spot for those counting carbohydrates or calories, though the same can be said of almost any Bakery worth visiting, it was from here that A Baker’s Wife stepped up big time, the Mankato Butter Bar falling somewhere between Chess Pie and Gooey Butter Cake while the Good Morning Bun and famous “American Tea Cake” each go all-in on lamination with the former shellacked in Cinnamon and Sugar while the latter hearkens of Kouign Amann, but with a more Biscuit-like Dough and larger pockets of air.
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