By PATRICK ADRIAN
[email protected]
CLAREMONT – Valentine’s Day is a busy holiday for bakeries.
Despite the rise in the number of bakeries in downtown Claremont, owners say preparation is key to keep pace with the orders.
“I’m overwhelmed with strawberries,” said April Woodman, owner of the 100 Mile Market on Pleasant Street.
Orders for Woodman’s chocolate-covered strawberries have exploded this year, she said. Woodman sells pre-ordered strawberries by the dozen. Customers can choose either dark or milk chocolate. On request Woodman will infuse the chocolate with a flavored oil, such as orange.
This is the second Valentine’s Day since she began selling her strawberries, Woodman said. The first year she completed about 10 dozen orders. This year she had 19 orders to fill and it was still morning.
“I may need to stop taking orders soon or won’t have enough strawberries,” Woodman said.
She received most of her strawberries from Black River Produce in Springfield, Vt., with additional purchases in town to complete her orders. Woodman says she may take customer orders today for anyone with deferred plans.
Woodman is also making romance the topic of an essential oils class on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Attendees will learn about oils and ingredients that invigorate human intimacy and be able to create their own samples to take home. The class is free to attend; attendees only pay for ingredients they purchase to make their own oils.
The Uptown Bakery on Glidden Street was swamped on Valentine’s Day, said owner Tammi Joslin.
By noon Joslin had sold out of her specially-made cupcakes, brownies and heart shaped red velvet mini cakes. Joslin also sells chocolate covered strawberries and like Woodman, was having to make local supermarket runs in order to keep up with customer orders.
While out of many prepared items Joslin still had enough treats for holiday shoppers, including chocolate pops, cheesecakes and other desserts.
Patience Bearse, owner of Bearse Bakery on Pleasant Street, said during the morning that her Valentine’s Day had felt less busy than previous holidays. Though at 2 p.m. she posted on the bakery’s Facebook page that she just sold out of her heart-shaped sugar cookies.
Bearse said she began preparing in January for Valentine’s Day. Many of her items she sells year round, though she put elaborate detail into changing their visual presentation for the holiday. She designed eclairs into hearts, added raspberry glaze to her brownies, decorated her cupcakes and cakes with buttercream hearts and roses.
Bearse likes her presentation to be simple, clean and beautiful.
“When you see [my desserts] they don’t look complicated but you know that they are going to taste as good as they look,” said Bearse.
Bearse said that she is looking most forward to St. Patrick’s Day. Regular customers may not be surprised given the Celtic music regularly playing in the bakery.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.