Q: How long have you been in the bakery business?
A: The bakery has been in business for more than fifty years; my husband Robbie and I took it over from his parents in 1980. Our daughter is in the process of taking it over from us now; she just opened a cafe attached to the bakery called Hurricane Heidi’s—it’s named after her motocross racing nickname. Now, in addition to our baked goods, you can come by for all-day breakfast, fantastic salads and daily specials that range from lasagne to things I can’t even pronounce.
Q: We were excited to notice your cookies at Pete’s Frootique recently. How did that come about?
A: They called us out of the blue looking for cookies to sell in their cookie corner at the store on Dresden Row. They usually call and tell us what they’d like us to send down, and we’re still sort of feeling our way through it, trying to figure out what would sell the best up there.
Q: Brookfield is quite small, but you’ve developed quite a following—where else do you sell all your baked goods?
A: You’re right—Brookfield proper only has a population of 600 people. We send some of our baking into grocery stores in Truro, and there’s what we send to Pete’s, but we sell the rest of it in the store. You wouldn’t believe where people come from to get our baking—and the places they take it! We’ve had things go to Ontario, Alberta, one woman took one of our lemon meringue pies to BC, carried it on her lap for the whole plane trip. We’ve even had someone send a big package to relatives in Italy.
Q: Your date turnovers seem to have a buzz about them. What would you say is your best seller?
A: Well, our date turnovers are definitely the most popular cookie that we make. But we are also famous for our bread—we’re one of the few bakeries around that still makes bread entirely from scratch. We do white bread, real brown bread with molasses, harvester’s loaf, honey oat, raisin bread—some of our older customers really like that—and we also make all sorts of cookies, squares, donuts, pies, English muffins, cakes, biscuits—we’re famous for our biscuits, too—and right now we’re making hot cross buns for Easter. We also do special orders for people with diabetes or gluten allergies.
Q: Have you noticed any changes in the bakery business over time?
A: The biggest change I’ve noticed is that people really aren’t eating bread like they used to—which is funny, they’re on a health kick and won’t eat white bread, but they won’t give up their sweets. They still love their cookies and treats.
Find Brookfield Bakery and hurricane heidi’s cafe just off Highway 102 at exit 12.
This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 5, 2006.
