At The Bread Shack  lot of time and thought goes into planning  and creating our holiday menus.  This year’s menu is no exception. Ultimately our goal is to provide a selection consistent with the quality our customers demand, and items to help make our customer’s holiday celebration joyous.

There are many choices of festive, flavorful holiday breads, from all cultures – Fyrstekake from Norway, Pannetone from italy – all of which we would love to bake. When I started baking I was not particularly interested in baking Stollen or Fruit Cake, breads from my cultural background as a German American, they had little flavor and questionable texture.

After learning how to properly bake Stollen, from a baker trained in Germany, using the finest ingredients available I fell in love with the bread. At this point I became committed to learning the origins of different breads and how to make them in a traditional manner with respect to the process, concentrating on techniques from the artisan baking tradition – long and slow fermentation.

Other items on the Holiday menu are designed with variety and intensity of flavor in mind. We make tarts at The Bread Shack instead of pies, although the numerous requests for pies may cause a change, the concentration of flavor of a tart allows for a smaller, less filling but satisfying slice. Smaller pieces with variety of flavors are fun for parties; the pastry brie wheel is great for noshing and other items provide a ready breakfast for a busy Christmas morning – butter croissants and quiche, for example.

At The Bread Shack we love to hear your thoughts, and value the opinions of our customers.  Feel free to visit us in person at 1056 Center Street in Auburn, Maine.