Silver Star Bakery
White Rainbow Cookies / Rainbow Cookies
Glazed Popover
Pastéis de Nata
Orange Cream Cake
Zeppole
From the dysfunctional website to its shabby exterior Silver Star Bakery in Providence is not exactly a place built for business in 2018-2019, but from the moment guests enter the reason it survives becomes evident, a steady stream of Senior Citizens making their way in and kibitzing with clerks while picking up their daily Bread.
Located in Fox Point for decades, the historically Portuguese part of town now a diverse mix of Italians and others inhabiting Colonial house, it was just past 8:15am that the store was found still with full shelves, the woman behind the counter stern-faced but pleasant with a big Brooklyn accent as she pretend-bickered with an elderly man about being closed on Christmas day and the one following.
Catering to local tastes without forgetting the past, everything from Rainbow Cookies to Egg Custard Tarts baked on-site daily, it was after lengthy perusal that an order emerged, a total of eleven items featuring six varieties carefully boxed and taken home for just over 12 dollars.
Likely the only Bakery in fifty miles offering the flavors of Portugal, a citrusy Sponge starting things off with great moisture and subtle sweetness while Pastéis de Nata were gently re-warmed in the oven, suffice it to say that Hong Kong’s Dan Tat have nothing on their cousins here featuring a flaky shell, the inside still quivering just a bit and likely even better fresh at Silver Star’s 5am opening.
Moving next to a Zeppole, its Vanilla Custard thick but unfortunately beginning to give the exterior a soggy texture, it was a last minute choice that led to the addition of a Pop Over glazed like a Donut, the oversized Egg Bread featuring a great rise and an enormous central cavity while Rainbow Cookies in two varieties were predictably enjoyable and surprisingly the only ones found across seven local Bakeries…unless one wishes to count the monthly special at PVDonuts.
www.silverstarbakery.com
