Daily Bread

Eight carb-loving crusaders have found their niche on the Eastside and are giving local residents a reason to add scrumptious baked goods to their weekly shopping list.

Words by Jessica Devenyns  Photos by Ashley Haguewood

From made-from-scratch donuts that are putting a fashion designer through school to bagels that were baked to fill a stomach as empty as the owner’s bank account, the story behind every bakery on the Eastside is different. One thing that they all have in common, however, is a passion for sharing the joy that comes through providing fresh delicious food. So grab a slice of bread, and listen to a tale. You might find yourself even getting up for seconds.

Early Risers

Get There Quick to Get Your Pick

S-H Donuts doesn’t smell like an ordinary donut shop. It may look like one, but the soft scents of fresh baked indulgences tell you that you’re about to sample something extraordinary.

Every morning at two o’clock, Socea and her husband Sarorn begin mixing dough for their donuts and kolaches. “Sometimes they come in at three. But then they have to go fast,” says the couple’s son, Vuy, with a grin.

Seven days a week, while the rest of us are deep in sweet dreams, this dedicated couple come in to bake donuts. Don’t be fooled though; these donuts are not place and bake. For each pastry, Sarorn developed a unique recipe based on years of observation. “He learned it in Long Beach from the other Cambodian donut-makers,” explains Vuy who spends his weekends working in the sparsely decorated but exceptionally clean shop. {Read more…}

Bagels by the Basket

A Starving Artist Catches his Big Break Over Breakfast.

After getting back from a wild European tour, Austin drummer Joe Humel found himself playing in seven different bands, working the door at Momo’s, and still barely able to make rent. So when the opportunity came for a seasonal job, he left his musical career and took a chance. Unfortunately, six months later, he found himself wondering, “Now I have nothing. I have no money, no job… now what?” The unlikely answer to his plea came to him on New Year’s Eve. {Read more…}

Baking with Heart

Experimentation is the cornerstone of Sugar Mama’s Bake Shop.

“I can pipe a cupcake, but you don’t want to see me decorate a cake,” Olivia O’Neal, Sugar Mama’s founder, says wryly. A self-made baker, Olivia never went to culinary school. Instead, she began practicing her technique at home and taking baked goods to parties. At the beginning, she divulges that all she had going for her was good taste. “Definitely not the decorations,” she exclaimed. “I look back at the early days, and I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness I can’t believe that I took that somewhere, and people still ate it!’” Despite her homemade aesthetic, Olivia quickly gathered a loyal following of comfort food connoisseurs. {Read more…}

A New Class of Kolache

Local, Organic, and True to Czech-inspired Tradition

If there’s one thing Austin doesn’t have enough of, it’s kolaches to go with its vast local brew selection. Thankfully, come May, brothers Josh and Noah Lit are going to change that. {Read more…}

Brazilian Cheese Bread

Experience Pão de Queijo

When was the last time you heard of a trade embargo on wheat inspiring the creation of one of the most delicious, gluten-free baked goods available today? Well, it doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, the result is a cheesy reproduction of the original—in the best way possible.

“About 200 years ago, Europe stopped sending flour to Brazil because they wanted to be independent… So [Brazilians] started to make bread with what they had, which was tapioca. They mixed it with milk, eggs, and cheese too,” explains Christiano Prado, the founder of Lua Brazil, the only place in Austin where you can purchase pão de queijo or Brazilian cheese bread. His centuries’ old recipe is a staple in Brazil, but something that has yet to make inroads here in North America. {Read more…}

Proudly Wearing Their Stripes

At Easy Tiger’s Bakery, Gluten Is King. 

The contrast of an elegant European-style bakery atop a boisterous beer garden is not a combination that you would expect to be the hearth of some of the highest quality artisanal loaves in Austin.

But neither did the folks who opened Easy Tiger. “That was a happy accident,” admits head dough puncher David Norman. “We found this space, put the two concepts together, and as soon as we did, then we realized the synergy between that and how beer and bread are so similar.” {Read more…}

The Miracle of Corn

El Milagro Plants Deeper Roots in Austin.

Whether you call them tortillas, taco shells, or Mexican bread, corn tortillas are the building blocks of tacos and a staple of Mexican cuisine: a staple that El Milagro has perfected over the years.

“In Mexico, you have to go in every day to buy tortillas at the local tortilla factory. It’s like a bakery with fresh bread,” explains the founder’s son, Manuel Lopez, who manages the company’s R&D department. {Read more…}

Stroop Club

Authentic Dutch Stroopwafels

Chantal Piët arrived here straight from the Netherlands in September 2015 with three suitcases, in which held two heavy halves of a stroopwafel iron and some personal stuff. Mueller Farmers’ Market gave Stroop Club the break they needed. Today, Stroop Club caters corporate and private parties and two Farmers’ Markets with live baking. They’re available in 45 local coffee shops and grocery stores, including Central Market.

Stroop Club does real authentic Dutch stroopwafels: crunchy, cinnamony waffle cookies with luscious caramel in the center. They carry traditional and chocolate stroopwafels and organic gluten free ones as well. Stop by their farm stand for specialty flavors: s’mores, picante piña, Nutella & strawberry, and more!