A "Corner" Bakery Briefing

Our corner: Preston and Forest. My dear friend, Kimberly (Briant) Donner and I used to meet once a week at Corner Bakery, Preston/Forest. Sadly, Kim - or Kimber, as I so affectionately call her - moved to Galveston last year and now resides in Houston. Our breakfasts were always the same: Oatmeal and Coffee. When it comes to oatmeal, I am pretty particular but Corner Bakery has consistently the best around. It's starchy, creamy (they claim its made with skim milk) and the oats are softly broken down, evidence that has been slow cooked.*

As you can see in the picture, the oatmeal is served with a sugar sprinkled, fruit studded piece of toast, called the "sweet crisp". Aptly named, the sweet crisp always proved to be the focus of our attention during breakfast for a few reasons: 1. It is sooo good. 2. It is covered in enough sugar to induce Type 2 Diabetes. Being the typical Baylor girls we are, Kimber and I cannot knowingly consume such copious amounts of sugar in one sitting, thus we remedied the problem with a knife, fork or spoon in hand. Using whichever utensil we had at our disposal, we would scrape the sugar crystals- which measure about 1/4" square, seriously. - off the sweet crisps onto our plates and often those little crystal cubes wound up in unexpected places and they would reveal themselves over the next few days (i.e. in your hair, your purse, your bra, etc.) We had fun and I'm sure it was fun to watch us girls, dissecting the crisps with the precision of brain surgeons.

I am writing to let the world (and mostly, Kimber in Houston) know that the recession has had a positive effect on Corner Bakery. Thanks to cost-cutting and food service controls, the amount of sugar on the said sweet crisps has been drastically reduced, finally allowing for the perfect sweet crisp.

As Chris Farley once said to Pepper Boy, Dana Carvey on SNL, "That's the perfect amount of pepper, Pepper Boy!"

Perfect Amount of Sugar
I want to exclaim, "That's the perfect amount of sugar, Sugar Girl!"

*We can personally testify for the "slow cooked" oats. Kimber and I arrived early one morning only to find that the person in charge of cooking the oatmeal the previous night had forgotten! And it took 30 plus minutes for the oatmeal to slow cook. We waited, of course. Note to self: Don't drink more than one cup of coffee on an empty stomach.

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A Bakery Briefing- Continued

The glorious Orange-Ginger Muffin Cupcake at Empire Baking Company.

And as we all know, you can't go to a bakery for lunch without getting something sweet. At which point, the Orange-Ginger Muffin (as pictured above) comes into play.

So about the muffin - I must digress, I think the term muffin is used very loosely in this case, something this sweet, this good, deserves to be called a cupcake.* After all, in today's society muffins are most commonly associated with muffin tops and well, lets be honest, no one wants to think about this when they are eating. If only muffin tops were still associated with this (!), Otis Spunkenmeyer may sleep soundly six feet under. - it was not something I would normally order, but Heather, being the cupcake connoisseur that she is, did and let me a have bite or two. With its soft, orange cream cheese icing, it is a treat whether it's morning or nigh. The cake itself was very dense, as we often think of muffins, but it had retained much moisture (due to obscene amounts of butter, I'm sure) like a pound cake. The flavor was full, with orange zest and a balance of ginger; it was not overpowering just sublimely enjoyable. At $1.99, this is a muffin to feed two people. I am thankful that Empire Bakery opens at 8am, it will save me pounds and pennies as I have to be at work by 8am.

* If you are further interested in the muffin vs. cupcake debate (as I know I was), check out this wonderfully informative post.

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A Bakery Briefing

Image via Wikipedia

"That buzzing-noise means something. If there's a buzzing noise, somebody's making a buzzing-noise, and the only reason for making a buzzing-noise that I know of is because you're a bee.....
And the only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey.....
And the only reason for making honey is so as I can eat it."

from Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne

Last week, I met Heather for our bi-monthly lunch at Empire Bakery on Lovers and Inwood. I have been admiring this bakery from a distance for quite some time now. I am a sucker for a good logo and yes, I do judge a book by its cover (and wine bottles by their label, however, I am steadily overcoming this weakness of character.)

The interior of the bakery, or "Baking Company", reflects the clean lines and modern simplicity of it's logo. Inside there are a few counter tables topped with white carrera marble but the space is largely dominated by the bakery display and counter. Empire sells an assortment of fresh breads, muffins, cookies and other baked goods. There are also retail shelves devoted to jams, jellies and other pretty packages. There are a few wooden patio tables outside, which is where we chose to lunch.

According to their website, Empire was started by couple Robert and Meaders Moore Ozarow to provide Dallas with European style breads. From there, they developed a sandwich line to highlight their breads. I think this is a key statement for Empire Bakery's sandwich selections. You choose your sandwich, pre-made, from a refrigerated cases and pay at the counter.
My sandwich, Mozzarella, Basil Pesto and Roma Tomato on Calamata Olive bread, was good, not great but nonetheless a good simple sandwich. The mozzarella and tomato sandwich is my go-to order for initial impressions; it is a sandwich intended to focus on the quality of it's few ingredients. As I previously stated, Empire's focus is on their bread and that came through in my sandwich. It was a smart combination because without the fresh, bouncy (yes, bouncy!) Calamata bread the sandwich would not have succeeded. The Calamatas were large chunks in the swirly, sourdough-based bread and they provided much needed seasoning to the sandwich. The bread made this sandwich.

And as we all know, you can't go to a bakery for lunch without getting something sweet. To be continued...

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