Restaurant Review: The Bakery House

Restaurant:
Address: 604 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Rating: (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★
Style: Bakery
Food: Excellent baked goods, cakes and coffee
Atmosphere: Traditional scratch bakery
Parking: Moderate, metered street parking is hit or miss
Service: Great, everyone is quite friendly
Price Range: Inexpensive
Unique Features: Numerous types of brownies/blondies and American and European baked goods.

Before there was Ace of Cakes and the dozens of dessert trucks and cupcake shops, there was . This is a scratch bakery, meaning that every single item is baked from scratch on a daily basis. There are no canned peaches, partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, artificial vanilla extract or egg substitutes in any of the baked goods here. Each confection is baked with care by able hands using high quality ingredients.

When I was in high school sometimes we would go for a brownie run at The Bakery House. I smiled when I saw that you could still get a half sheet of brownies to go (a half sheet is about 6 good-sized brownies). The Bakery House is not a trendy new business—it’s an established business that has been providing birthday cakes, sugar fixes and afternoon snacks for the community for as long as I can remember.

I arrived shortly before a torrential downpour and took my time looking over the wide array of baked goodness. After much deliberation I decided on a red velvet cupcake, a cream puff, an enormous carrot cake muffin, Reese’s brownie and individual peach pie.

The red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting and vibrant red rose was tasty. The cupcake itself was not as intense in color as other iterations of everyone’s favorite cupcake of the moment, but the cake was moist and had a nice crumb texture. The cream cheese frosting was rich, decadent and not overly sweet. The expertly piped out rose was smooth and sugary.

The cream puff was textbook perfect. The homemade pastry shell had a subtle crunch on the exterior and a light and airy interior. The cream filling was slightly dense and rich in flavor. The light dusting of powdered sugar on top tied it all together nicely. Each bite was a wonderful interplay of textures and flavors.   

The carrot cake muffin was excellent. As a carrot cake connoisseur, I have tried it dozens of times and this was one of the best I have tried. Extremely moist without being cloying and heavy, this cake surprised me. The black walnuts and bits of carrot were quite small and present in every bite. The cake was sweet with some savory hints. The cream cheese frosting was thick and delicious.

The Reese’s brownie was a peanut butter brownie with chocolate chips. Rich and buttery with bursts of chocolate goodness sprinkled throughout the peanut butter cake, these “brownies” are an ideal blend of sweet and savory. The mini Reese’s peanut butter cup on top was a nice touch.

The peach pie was stellar. Underneath a picture perfect lattice crust, there were the biggest slices of fresh juicy peaches baked until just tender. The crust was light, flaky and crisp. The peach filling was heavenly and tasted like summer.   

The service at The Bakery House is, and has always been, unbelievably friendly. Everyone who works there is accommodating and quite knowledgeable. The coffee is La Colombe, the baked goods are out of this world, and they greet you with a smile to boot. I can’t say enough good things about this place.