Honey Bee Bakery

If I could award 6 stars, I would. I ordered a genoise cake with lemon and raspberry fillings for delivery to my sister’s workplace. Honey Bee made the process a «piece of cake.» The consensus was that the cake was outrageously good, and the fillings were intensely flavored and not too sweet. And the frosting was delicious, a true buttercream. The cake and the whole experience were wonderful. Thank you Honey Bee!

This may not be saying much, but they put the WI State Fair’s cream puffs to shame. I just saw one of the latter on PBS and my mind went straight to the Honey Bee Bakery’s version. It’s flavorful, not too sweet, somehow rich and light at the same time. Magnifique.

We’re addicted to Honey Bee Bakery’s delicious treats at the East Side Farmers’ Market: fruit tartlets with pretty scalloped edges and a dollop of whipped cream, buttery cakes studded with fruit (apples, blueberries, pears), decadent cream puffs, shortbread, and my favorite, the honey cake with apricot glaze. The desserts are not overly sweet, and use organic, local, and seasonal ingredients. The plain baguette is also delicious — great crust, texture and flavor.
Being smitten with her farmers’ market goods, we asked Mary (the owner) to bake the cakes for our wedding in September 2014. She made a fabulous main cake — a genoise layer cake with chocolate ganache and raspberry filling, frosted with buttercream — and a larger version of her honey cake (actually, she went above and beyond and gave us two additional medium-​sized honey cakes although we had only ordered one, just to make sure there was enough, which was lucky as it was very popular!). She decorated the main cake with beautifully arranged fresh flowers, leaves and berries. Most importantly, the cakes tasted amazing: fresh, not too sweet, full of flavor, perfect texture. A lot of people told us that it was not only the best wedding cake they had ever had, but also the best cake, period. We agreed! People ate seconds and thirds of cake.
In addition to being an expert baker, Mary is also a really nice person to do business with. She was friendly, creative, charged us a fair price, and delivered everything just right and on time. So if you’re looking for a totally reliable wedding vendor who also happens to be a cake genius, we recommend her highly!

My honey was turning 60 yesterday so I decided to track down his favorite slice of cake… Tres Leches cake, which we have eaten a few times at Alchemy. The cake is unique, fairly light and not overly sweet. It is a Mexican favorite.
I called and left a message for Mary. She returned my call promptly and was very helpful. On birthday afternoon, Mary delivered the cake right to my door. The attendees of the birthday soirée and of course, the birthday boy, loved the cake. I ended up with more cake than I needed but I was able to drum up volunteers who were happy to take a few slices off my hands. Unfortunately two of my friends have lactose related issues and were unable to enjoy this milky delight.
This is one special cake baked by one special lady. Why bake when Mary can do it for you. Enjoy!

The honey cake is soo good. It’s moist, sweet and buttery, and you get a bright hit from the apricot glaze on top. A lot of their other pastries looked just as good.
I also tried the peach hand pie, as recommended by a woman working there, but I wasn’t so crazy about it. The dough didn’t have much flavor and the peaches tasted pretty predictable.
Despite the peach pie, I’m giving it 5 stars because the honey cake was so good and I can’t wait to try more of their creations.

If you have been to the east side farmer’s market and guiltily bought one of Mary White’s baked goods then you won’t need another reason to stop by bea’s bonnet.
To say that I love those baked goods is an understatement. I am a furtive groupie hoping that this masterful baker will one day acknowledge me. This is someone who does everything as it should be, using organic flour, local and seasonal fruit, and lots of butter and cream. I marvel at the wheat flour she uses in her blueberry muffins, the caramel layer on the hazelnut bars, and the fresh fruit spreads on the tartlets.
I am a little bit of a foodie, and to me if you use top quality ingredients then the simpler recipes are best. In the baking world, this is as good as it gets.
Now that Mary is selling her baked goods at this small outpost a block from my house, it is guaranteed to become a habit, and who knows? Maybe I will get an autograph or at least one of her signature cakes!

Teeny little place across from Sugar Shack records, easy to miss because it’s so tiny (the baking is done off site, I believe). They sell breads (the majority are whole grain) and pastries. Some examples of the pastries: sandwich cake, chocolate mousse tarts, mini pumpkin pies, apple kringle, muffins, apple tarts, and more. They also have a small selection of retail products from other vendors like salsa, honey, pasta sauce, and locally raised meats. For hot foods, the selection changes, but the day I went they had focaccia pizza, a hot sandwich, soup, and coffee or hot chocolate. I bought a loaf of semolina bread and a whole grain muffin blueberry muffin. Yeah, muffins aren’t that exciting but this muffin was quite good, hearty but not overly «grainy» so that it wasn’t a treat. Companion had the apple kringle and said it was the best kringle he ever had. It is really more like a combo of apple pie and kringle because there were big chunks of apple in it. Will return.