Jacquette's Bakery: Flour, Sugar, Butter and Eggs Never Looked so Good

Given the choice between a high-priced, trendy bake shop with lone pastries displayed like works of art and an old-fashioned scratch bakery, I will always go for the scratch bakery. I love how they always smell like whatever was baked most recently, the endless shelves of cookies, cakes, pies and other baked goods and the reasonable pricing. 

While I can appreciate the beauty of a perfectly prepared chocolate dome with a glaze so bright you need sunglasses, I never yearn for such exquisite pastries. However, a craving for a cookie, a slice of cake or pie happens a few times a week.  is just the place for a sugar junkie like me.

I went in and it literally took me about five minutes to just survey the territory. There are bakery cases brimming with every imaginable type of cookie, cake, pie, danish, etc. There was a table with even more treats in the center of the store and shelves along the walls with a bountiful of baked goods. Luckily, I had a very patient lady waiting on me and she put up with all my indecision and questions, and even did so with a smile.

I ordered a cinnamon sugar pastry pretzel, some of the famous sticky buns, a mini lemon meringue pie and a mini blueberry pie. The cinnamon sugar pastry pretzel was light and flaky. It was a far cry from the dense but equally delicious traditional Philly soft pretzel. The pretzel was not overly sweet but had a nice cinnamon flavor. 

The sticky buns come with either walnuts or raisins on top and three is the minimum order. I ordered three with walnuts. The sticky bun is Germanic in origin but many associate it with Philadelphia. I will say that they are not nearly as good when you leave the northeast.

These sticky buns were wonderful. They were sweet and syrupy with some savory notes and texture from the walnuts. The buns themselves had that homemade taste and were soft in the center. These would make a quick and easy crowd pleaser for a Sunday brunch or a snack with coffee with some friends.

The lemon meringue pie was great. Some lesser quality pies have meringue that tastes like styrofoam but this was so good that I could eat it alone. The meringue was light without being cloyingly sweet.  The lemon filling was smooth and tart, and a well balanced pie.

The blueberry pie had a gorgeous lattice crust made from a delicious flaky buttery dough. Like the meringue, this crust was tasty enough to be enjoyed alone. I tend to like a more rustic pie filling with big chunks of fruit interspersed throughout but this filling was more smooth and not as chunky. It did have a decent blueberry flavor though. 

As I mentioned earlier, I had a lovely lady helping me navigate the bakery waters. She won my heart when she chose to give me the best looking lemon meringue pie in the whole case and told me so.

Though it's a bit ways away from my  home, I can assure you that I will definitely head back there next time I am in the area. I suppose it's better that way–who knows how often I would go if I lived 5-10 minutes away.