bramble baking co.

MUSHROOM MONDAY, made for @sarahpinsker ’s book release celebration @birdinhandcoffeeandbooks ! sarah sent some lines from one of the short stories in “Lost Places” ahead of time, and wow what an honor to roll with a cake inspired by the cover and the *vibes*: “Everything was green, a thousand shades of green; even the air smelled green, which we wouldn’t have known was possible until we smelled it. The sun filtered down between the trees to warm us as we walked."💚 congrats again, sarah!

BIG, BITTERSWEET NEWS: july 16th will be our last day open as the bake shop. i wrote you a novella that you’ve received if you’re a newsletter subscriber, and you can find it on the website. it’s certainly too much to write you here in metaland. . important bits for now: some of our team is looking for new opportunities, and their thoughtfulness and talent knows no bounds. i’d love to connect you, and we’ll be sharing more love notes in the coming weeks. . i will be chugging along in our wonderful space while we find a new steward. if you have a gift card or have ordered a wedding cake with us, for example, have no fear! there will be occasional workshops and whatever else forms too. i love living and working in this neighborhood, and if you want to chat more about the available space, please reach out. . it’s not over quite yet. baby stuff swap this sunday! @unemploymentinsurance night market @theottobar sunday! another bingo night coming down the pipeline! we’re going to bake you so many nice things over the coming weeks. 💓 lots of love to everyone for being here. thank you, thank you, thank you.

barely sweet corn custard, plum and berry jam, whipped vanilla bean mascarpone. cornucopia weekend commences. 🌽🌽🌽

🍰✨ Fox Haven’s Cake Social is almost here! ✨🍰 And check out the amazing Cake Walk donors—you could win a whole cake made by: 🎂 @mapleandryebakery 🎂 Allie Smith (formerly @bramblebakes ) 🎂 @commonmarketcoop PLUS: 🍯 Our resident beekeeper Ryan Sanders will lead a free hive tour & honey tasting — and is donating a 1/2 pound jar of Sanders Honey Hole honey for the raffle! You won’t want to miss this one-of-a-kind event! 🎟 RSVP today: /events/cakesocial (linked in bio) Join us on 9/27 @foxhavenfarmretreatcenter for cake tastings, hive tour, live music by Yurt Folk, prizes & sweet community fun!

oh hi! in my post-bakery life, i (allie) am part of the collective that keeps @2640space running, and we’ve got our last fundraising event of the year coming up NEXT FRIDAY, dec 20th from 6:30-8:30pm. it may be of interest to you as a Fan of Local Treats.™️ it’s a classic community bake sale, including some things by former bramblers and friends of the bakery! plus you can decorate some solstice cookies. 🤍🌝🖤 see you there!

tis the season for galettes of yore, held at angles. 🥰 these got better and better over the bramble years, and I think of them so fondly. loved to come in to @drebastion ’s or @lunaria_cakes ’s fun, early morning scoring last year especially. 🌀✨

highly recommend cookies with pals if you need a nice way to reacquaint yourself with baking after not doing so for six months! i am still working on letting go and having fun with chaotic decor like my visionary friends, but in the meantime i made the very controlled batch of minimalist baby pepparkakor and neurotic raspberry ube checkerboards. . you know what book has lots of cookie recipes? “snacking bakes” by @yossyarefi and how funny because its our first book pick for BAKE THE BOOK CLUB. you can sign up right now via @greedyreads . COOKIE MENTALITY NEVER STOPS so let’s have some cookies (and brownies and bars and cakes) in january. the first couple months of this new club are almost full, but a few extra spots have opened up as of this posting. ❣️

🥮 New book club alert!!! 🥮 You’ve been asking for a baking book club for a while, and it’s finally here! We are beyond excited to be teaming up with Allie from @bramblebakes for our new monthly Bake the Book, starting in January! We’ve announced the first three books and dates; when you sign up, we’ll send you a form to select the recipe you’ll prepare and bring with you. These spots are going fast! Did you know we announce all of our events, including book clubs and sunset cruises, in our newsletter? It’s true! You’ll find that signup, and signups for all of our book clubs, on our website.

Next up on our tour de staff thank you’s is Lucy! Our “newest” staff member that wasn’t new at all when the shop closed, Lucy joined us late summer 2022. . Lucy is another person who worked a whole ass education job while juggling Bramble on the weekends. She worked with middle schoolers and their families to connect them to resources in the City like YouthWorks, and was a general wearer of many hats around college and career readiness in her school community. I imagine that this was sometimes a full-time-plus job, but Lucy was always another calm, problem-solving powerhouse behind the counter. 💆‍♀️ . In the most impressive turn of events, Lucy was working on building out a van in the months before the shop closed so she could do some cross-country exploration. She did that/is on the road! Can you even imagine the perseverance and planning required to make something like that happen? Amazing. I would also like to take this moment to award her best thrifter of our staff for her impeccable finds including my favorite, her really good tweety bird sweatshirt. Thanks, Lucy! ❤️

A thank you for another face you’ll recognize from behind the counter today. Betsy joined us after the shop had been open a short while, leaving a corporate job behind. You can probably guess what that meant: a pay cut and less job security. I’ll forever be grateful to Betsy for taking that risk and choosing to spend time connecting over pastries. . Like a few of us, Betsy had really been around the block when it came to employment. Because of this (and I think her naturally hardworking nature) she so seamlessly jumped in on problem solving and getting many tiny-and-not-glamorous things done that are essential to keep a bakery going. She’s an explorer and a boundless well of energy that never wants to sit still…MANY dishes and prep happened while the shop was slow. . Betsy was in our shop every day we were open. Our dog ambassador and friend to regulars from the neighborhood, every one. A builder of endless boxes, peeler of endless apples, and a focused force amidst us sleep-deprived bakers. Now she’s working on the recycling outreach team with the City Department of Public Works—badass and so necessary. Thanks, Betsy. ❤️🐶

We veer into front of house territory now, so many of you will recognize these faces even more so as those that made Bramble welcoming. Chime on in! 😛 . Felicity was also with us from the very beginning of the shop, studying special education at Towson all the while. I’m guilty of calling her the sweetest sweetie often, but that doesn’t do it justice at all! Felicity’s warmth is palpable and she has the best smile, but she’s able to go a step further and create genuine connections. She is so clearly a talented educator in that she’s a deep listener with a deep respect for kids. What a beautiful gift to watch her connect with families at the shop. . She also brought a lightheartedness to our more stressful holiday times (likely not a coincidence since she spends time making people feel comfortable in sometimes chaotic classrooms.) Thank you for always making sure we had a smiling plushie croissant to greet us in the early morning, and for believing so deeply in Bramble, Felicity. For diving into cookie making and large scale butter cubing and mini cake decorating. I am absolutely positive you brightened hundreds of days, and always mine too. 💕💘

The passing seasons/this stormy equinox have got me reminiscing. (Never mind that I’ve actually been doing that constantly since July.) . Dayna joined the Bramble team right before we opened, and I don’t think they would mind my recent approach to elastic time. They’ve always inspired me to try to exist outside of this screen, in the world, and to devote attention to what matters more or feels most important. . There are many, many things Dayna shared with us: a Virgo’s eye for detail and meticulousness, a birds eye view of others’ needs to see where they might lend a hand. But Dayna really blew our minds with their chocolate artistry. Biting into one of their bon bons is a singular experience. The textures! The balanced flavors! The COLORS! So observant of the natural world, I dare say Dayna’s chocolates were the most beautiful thing to behold in the shop. . Thanks for everything, king. I love watching you create as a way to better understand yourself and the world! Let Dayna give you the absolute best wine rec sometime if you find yourself at wine source. 💚