Itsy Bitsy Bakery Opens Its Doors

For the past year, Maria Forline has been working on dessert and appetizer catering while preparing to open a small bakery.

Forline is the master baker, while her mother Laura Frene is the business mind behind Itsy Bitsy Bakery, which opened its doors on Sept. 4.

The bakery is much more than a cupcake shop, which is the new trend in surrounding areas. Forline said that she likes to bake many desserts other than cupcakes, and she thinks people enjoy more treats than just cupcakes.

"I love baking pies and tarts and more traditional desserts," Forline said. "I didn't want to do the same thing as someone down the street."

Forline said she is hoping that because she is not limiting the type of fare offered at the bakery, that the business will be more successful in the long run.

The bakery will offer everything form zucchini bread (a recipe from a neighbor), to her mom's apple pie, her grandmom's pecan pie, sweet jalapeno corn bread, savory treats, cookies, muffins and more from her own recipes. Forline said that so far her cinnamon rolls and cheddar dill scones have been selling the best.

Though Forline studied history and technology at Georgia Tech with the aspirations of later becoming a lawyer, she has always loved to bake and isn't surprised that this is where she's ended up.

"I've loved to bake with my family," Forline said. "My mom worked in a bakery, and she and my grandmother were always baking, too."

In college, Forline began baking for her vegan friends and "felt she had mastered it." When she finally decided on a space for the bakery, she was in Amicus Green Building Center when several people asked if she would be serving gluten-free items. That sparked her interest in offering that variety of treats, as well.

"I want this to be a traditional community-based bakery," Forline said.

When deciding where to open the bakery, Frene said that her daughter struggled between the Ellicott City and Columbia areas of Maryland where Forline was living at the time, or bringing it back to Montgomery County where she grew up.

"We live in North Chevy Chase, and we just enjoy the Kensington community so much," Frene said. "We lucked into this spot."

The actual location used to be the tavern of Cafe 1894. Forline said the cafe is temporarily serving her strawberry cake because the owner enjoyed it, and added that if there is something that people in the community want, she will do the best to cater to them and offer items that everyone can enjoy.

"We're trying to use as many organic and natural ingredients as when we can," Forline said. "And we're supporting local business by offering Mayorga coffee and Drink More Water."

Additionally, the bakery's supplier is the Silver Spring Co-Op.

In order to not waste ingredients, Forline is baking single orders of everything (except for the cinnamon rolls) daily. Anything left over will be offered at 50 percent off the following day. If people want to purchase dozens of cupcakes or cookies, Forline suggests they call ahead and order a special batch. Each cupcake is priced individually, no matter how many are purchased.

"It depends on the order, but we'll need about 48 hours' notice," Forline said. "People can try last minute, but we suggest calling ahead. Something like a fancy cake would take much more notice."

In fact, Forline will be out of town starting Wednesday through Sept. 22 (so the bakery will be closed), baking for an out-of-town wedding.

Once she returns from her work trip, Forline will reopen her shop and prepare for the bakery's grand opening on Sept. 25. They'll be giving away a free mini-cupcake with every purchase in addition to coupons to buy one item and get one free.