Meet the Baker/Owner: Weinrich's Bakery

You could say baking is in Cynthia Weinrich’s blood. Her ancestors opened the first in the 1880s and the store in Newtown Square has been in business for 50 years.

Some members of the Newtown Square community have been sampling Weinrich’s delicious treats since childhood. It’s wonderful to know that the baked goods are still made the same old–fashioned way with real ingredients (butter, not partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening; sugar, not high fructose corn syrup).

This interview with a savvy baker and businesswoman with a keen nose was just as enjoyable as the perfectly glazed doughnut I devoured in between questions. In my experience, bakers tend to be truly friendly people—I think all the sugar makes them a bit sweeter–and that was the case with Cynthia Weinrich.

Name: Cynthia Weinrich

Age: 44

Hometown: Newtown Square

Home now: Newtown Square

Favorite thing about the community: The community sense. It’s still a community like when my parents first moved here. It maintains the sense of community despite growing larger in size.

Do you do any community work? Yes, we donate to schools and homeless shelters in the form of baked goods and gift certificates. We participate in events like ’s and ’s Dads and Donuts. We probably donate to events at least twice a week on average. We’re very involved with that.

Years in the industry: My whole life. I grew up in the business.

Earliest cooking memory: Working with dough on the back bench and flipping the doughnuts [in the fryer oil]. I can’t remember how old I was, it was so long ago.

First kitchen job: My first official job was to frost seven dozen cupcakes then I went on to wait on customers. I was a store girl.

Biggest kitchen disaster: We’ve never really had one. Sometimes the oven goes out or something like that but when you’re baking you can usually tell while you’re mixing, baking or by the smell if something is wrong. Also, we’re always watching what’s going on. It’s not like we have a ton of people working all different shifts and aren't keeping tabs on what’s happening. We’re always here. There’s always a Weinrich here.

What brought you to the industry? It’s the family business.

Advice for home cooks: For bakers, use good ingredients. Do it because you love it not because you have to. Don’t cut corners. Don’t change recipes. If it says to use butter, use butter. You can’t expect to get the same results if you change the recipes.

Favorite thing to cook: Probably a cake. While baking other things can get tricky, cakes are pretty straight forward. You mix the ingredients together, throw them into a pan and bake. I can tell by smell when a cake is ready.

Favorite menu item: The chocolate covered cream doughnut (I used to eat six at a time when I was a kid); German-style peach cake–the simplicity of it is great. It’s a yeast-raised dough with fresh sliced orchard peaches and a glaze on top. You don’t have to add anything to it. Apple danishes are also my favorite and the dessert cakes.

Healthiest menu item: The cinnamon bun. There isn’t a lot of fat and I just recently found out that cinnamon is great for internal inflammation in joints (writer’s note: my dad too told me that his doctor friend advised my mom to drink a tea brewed from ground cinnamon and honey to alleviate the pain in her knees).

Favorite local restaurant: has the best crab cakes around, I also like and .

Favorite restaurant in the world: Spasso in Old City.

Guilty pleasure (food or drink): I don’t think any of it is guilty if you enjoy it!

Favorite food shows: I like Giada de Laurentiis, Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals and Lidia Bastianich.

Last meal on earth: Probably chocolate chip cake with raspberries and whipped cream frosting, followed by crab cakes and cheese fries.