From Scratch
There’s something special about baking from scratch.
And if you’re looking for a cookbook filled with recipes for homespun treats, The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook is about as good as it gets.
When I first spotted this cookbook, I was struck by the evocative writing and beautiful images. Full of delectable recipes and personal stories, it inspires a wave of nostalgia for those childhood days spent baking at my grandmother and mother’s side.
In today’s busy world, it can be tough finding the time to bake from scratch, but when I do, I always end up reflecting on what a gift it is.
The gift of slowing down. The gift of creating something with your own hands. The gift of sharing with those you love.
And authors Cheryl and Griffith Day have gifted us with this cookbook. As they write, “…we are inviting those who can’t make it to our bakery to slow down and taste the sweet life in their own kitchens.”
Cheryl and Griffith opened Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia in 2002, and their dream of “wanting to build a community by baking fresh, wholesome cakes and artisan breads based on recipes passed down by family and friends” has certainly come true. This year their bakery made Food and Wine’s list of “The 100 Best Bakeries in America” and the recognition is well deserved.
I had the opportunity to visit Savannah for the first time in 2017, and I detailed that memorable trip in my Southern Taste Bites post.
The absolute highlight of that trip was a visit to the Back in the Day Bakery.
I’d seen pictures as I’d thumbed through the pages of their cookbook, but it was even better in person!
Warm, welcoming, and the epitome of hospitality.
With some of the best food I’ve ever tasted!
The following spring, when my sister asked me to bring dessert for our family Easter celebration, I opened up the Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook and spent two memorable days in the kitchen preparing a few recipes to share…
Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
I’m a latecomer to the red velvet fan club – I didn’t have my first taste until I was an adult, and my initial attempt at making it (with a different recipe) resulted in a dry and slightly sour cake that had me doubting I’d make one again.
But the Back in the Day Bakery recipe has made me a convert! A hint of chocolate, a brilliant color, and an excellent cream cheese frosting – impressive. I was sneaking bites of the leftover cake for days!
Cherry Pie Bars
A buttery shortbread crust with a tart cherry filling – yep! And when you warm these cherry pie bars up and top them with a little vanilla bean ice cream…out of this world.
Lemon Pie Bars
I grew up making my mom’s lemon bars, and they’ve always been one of my favorites. This lemon pie bar recipe, with a graham cracker crust (so easy!) and creamy lemon custard, intrigued me from the start. And it was fabulous – I took one bite and was sold!
Coconut Cake with Coconut Buttercream
This elegant coconut cake with coconut buttercream seemed perfect for Easter and epitomized the virtues of baking from scratch. Yes, it took a few time-consuming steps, and yes, it took me out of my “comfort zone” at times, but it was absolutely worth it! A light and fluffy cake, infused with coconut syrup, and topped with a whipped-cream like buttercream – it was a solid hit with my family.
Old-Fashioned Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting
There’s something about eating a cupcake that takes you back to your childhood, and this old-fashioned cupcake with buttercream frosting had me going back in time. A tender vanilla cake with a rich vanilla buttercream – simple and so delicious. Cheryl Day writes that these are the number one seller at their bakery, and I can see why!
It was a lot of work making five recipes in just two days – but so rewarding! There is truly something about baking from scratch that makes life just a little sweeter.
When Washington’s “stay-at-home” order began this spring, that urge to bake came roaring back, so I pulled out this trusted cookbook once again.
Buttermilk Cornmeal Pancakes with Blueberry-Maple-Cassis Syrup
Working from home over these last few months has elevated weekday breakfasts from a “hurry up and rush out the door” meal to a “sit down and enjoy the experience” meal and pancakes have graced our table on more than a few occasions. These buttermilk cornmeal pancakes were a fun recipe to try and a slightly savory complement to the sweeter blueberry-maple-cassis syrup (so good!).
Buttermilk Biscones
I’m a huge fan of scones and this creative cross between a biscuit and scone hits all the right notes.
I loved every bite of these sweet, tender, and buttery biscones!
For the first round, I served them slathered with Ree Drummond’s sausage gravy, but they were equally fabulous the next day served warm with a dollop of raspberry jam. The quintessential comfort food!
Chocolate Heaven Cake with Chocolate Buttercream
I made this final recipe, a chocolate heaven cake, during a rough week – a week of relentless rain, of too much time spent watching the news, of heartbreak over the images I was seeing.
A week that had me itching to get out of the house.
On a rainy morning we headed out to one of our favorite spots – the Mountain Loop Highway – and as we climbed up into the hills, the sun peeked out, and I could feel the heaviness starting to lift.
Luck was on our side as we found a remote spot along the river to spend a quiet afternoon. Sitting on the water’s edge, cooking over an open fire, walking along a wooded path – simple and soulful.
We topped the afternoon off with a messy piece of the chocolate cake that I’d hurriedly squished into a Tupperware container. It wasn’t pretty – but it was absolutely delicious.
It was “everything you want a chocolate cake to be, and a sweet finale,” as Cheryl writes in the introduction to her recipe, and the perfect ending to a day that we both desperately needed.
With Love
When I started drafting this post back in mid-May, we were still smack dab in the middle of Phase One, tucked safely away at home, trying to navigate a stay-at-home order and a new world of online teaching.
Since that time, the world has changed even more, as our attention is drawn to the important issues of social equality and justice.
And while I don’t have a lot of answers, what I do know is that I’m listening, I’m learning, and I’m acting.
I snapped a photo of this sign when I visited The Back in the Day Bakery in 2017, and I think the message is especially relevant for today.
Yes, food baked with love tastes better.
But, it’s not only food that can be made better with love.
As we work to build a better society, I continue to believe in the power of love. Of love’s healing power, of love’s transformational power, and of love’s enduring power.
And in this time of uncertainty and change – that is what gives me hope.
Wishing you all the best,
-Kimberly
Wonderfully displayed. My fear is that too many families are losing culinary creativity.
Thank you for the very relevant post during these unpredictable times.
So well done, Kim! I love seeing a cookbook that’s new to me and your writing is so fun to read. Bravo!