Sweet Tooth Relief

Indulge in cookies, cakes, Hungarian treats and more at Henriette’s Bakery in Hamilton.

By: Megan Sullivan
   Upon entering Henriette’s Bakery one recent morning, I immediately had the urge to roll up my sleeves, throw on an apron and start baking. Just beyond the glass display cases filled with tempting treats, owner Henriette Pota and her mother, Erzsebet Gobor, were hard at work in the kitchen. Ms. Pota grated lemon zest into a silver mixing bowl for lemon bar filling, the crust already prepared, while Ms. Gobor cut out small circles from a thin sheet of dough to make kifli, a Hungarian cookie. Seeing that these two women had the baking under control, my desire shifted as I looked back at those trays of cookies, cupcakes, scones and brownies in all their sweet and sugary glory.
   Nestled in the Concord Square shopping center on Route 33 in Hamilton, the bakery opened its doors to sweet-craving customers Jan. 20 — and word already seems to be spreading like icing on a cake. "Americans like their sweets," says Ms. Pota, a Robbinsville resident who moved to the United States from Hungary about 15 years ago.
   She and her husband, Ivan, who emigrated from Hungary 21 years ago, had hoped to open their own business for a while. They were searching for a good baker in the area. "We always wanted to do it because I love baking and cooking," Ms. Pota says. "We were thinking about opening a restaurant, but it’s too much work. We have a 2 ½-year-old son, so I couldn’t do that to him."
   A real estate agent for the past six years, Ms. Pota knows the importance of location. It took the couple two years to find their current niche in the small shopping strip, in a space formerly occupied by a diet clinic. Standing inside the bakery, enveloped by the sight and smell of fresh-baked goodies, it’s hard to imagine it as a place where people had once sought weight-loss advice.
   Temptation is immediate, as the storefront’s large 12-pane window gives customers a sneak peek at the treats within. Once inside, the eye doesn’t know where to travel first — to the large vanilla-frosted cupcakes topped with shredded coconut or the chocolate chip and cranberry scones, maybe the golden turnovers filled with fresh fruit — and everything looks so good. The bakery also makes special order three-layer cakes, with options ranging from creamy strawberries and lemon to German chocolate and carrot cakes. "Everything is fresh and made from scratch," Ms. Pota says. "No yellow cake mix, nothing artificial."
   In addition to sweets, Henriette’s offers fresh-baked panini sandwiches, made with ham, turkey or salami, cheese and a pesto mayonnaise sauce. On Saturdays, Ms. Pota carries breads from Village Bakery in Lawrenceville and plans on carrying bread and rolls from Barbero’s Bakery in Hamilton in the near future.
   Aside from Ms. Pota and her mother, pastry chef Livia Pap helps out in the kitchen on Fridays and Saturdays. While they don’t consider themselves a Hungarian bakery, the women do bake an assortment of Hungarian treats using old recipes passed down from generation to generation. "Hungarian baking is a mix of Austrian, French… it’s all of Europe," Ms. Pota says. They offer Zserbo, a rectangular-shaped layered pastry made with apricot jam, ground walnuts and chocolate icing on top. "It’s so good," Ms. Pota says. "It’s rich, but it’s not too sweet, it doesn’t kill you." Or, one could try ischler, an almond cookie sandwiched together by jelly or jam and dipped in smooth chocolate ganache. There’s also kifli — Ms. Gobor was busy preparing apricot-filled versions of the butter cookie, but there also was a batch with a smooth walnut cream inside. One of the most impressive items, however, is dobos torte, a layer cake that’s so light and airy with chocolate butter cream filling so smooth it melts in the mouth.
   If something isn’t featured on the menu, Ms. Pota says she’s willing to try new recipes upon a customer’s request. "We just got a Czechoslovakian cookie recipe from this lady and we’re going to try it," she says. "And our friend… gave us his cannoli recipe and I’ll try it. Why not?" Although Ms. Pota took a professional baking course at Mercer County Community College to see how American techniques might differ from that of Hungarians, she basically learned from hands-on experience. "My mom and grandmom taught me," Ms. Pota says. "It runs in the family."
   The store is open Tuesday through Sunday and Ms. Pota’s day usually begins between 5 and 5:30 a.m. "I make fresh scones, turnovers, muffins, we open at 7:30 with fresh coffee and then I’ll just bake all day," she says. So far, she hasn’t tired of baking. "I actually enjoy it because we have a small kitchen at home and it’s a pain to bake there. Here it’s very comfortable."
   The bakery’s kitchen might be better equipped and more spacious, but it still retains that ‘at home’ feel. Since there’s no wall dividing the kitchen from the display cases, bakery customers feel more like visitors at a friend’s place. Mr. Pota, who owns a hardwood floor business, did a lot of the renovations in the store, including laying down the old-fashioned black and white checkered floor tiles, complemented by the smooth Raspberry Pudding paint on the walls. Decorative touches add to the warm ambience, like an old hutch Ms. Pota painted white and accented with tea sets, plates and clocks. "We wanted to make it homey, too," Ms. Pota says of the store. A wooden sign displayed on the hutch reminds customers of the most important thing they need to do when stopping by Henriette’s — INDULGE.
Henriette’s Bakery is located at 1905 Route 33, Hamilton. Hours: Tues.-Fri. 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Sat. 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. 8 a.m.-3 p.m. For information, call (609) 586-9800.