We strongly believe using local ingredients yields higher quality and better tasting products, and we believe in connecting our customers with the people that make the baked goods they love possible. Over time we'll be sharing the local farms, businesses, and individuals that we frequently get out ingredients from.
Blue Whistler Farm is a small, sustainable practice farm in Bahama, NC. The farm is owned and run by Amy Sliffe, who we met in 2015 through a mutual friend. Amy's husband Josh co-owns Remedy Co, a video production company in Durham, NC. They raise pigs, chickens, ducks, rabbits, sheep and turkey. Amy has a passion for educating the community about sustainable farming practices - she even taught us how to raise our own chickens! We use Blue Whistler bacon, sausage and lard in our pastries. We sell pastries at Blue Whistler's biweekly Farm Markets - you can find us there on the second and fourth Sunday of every month.
We welcomed our own little flock of chickens to our home this past month. We had been getting eggs from Blue Whistler Farm, who recently stopped raising laying hens in order to focus on other animals. We wanted to continue using free range, organic and non-GMO eggs for our pastries, so we now have eight adorable hens who have free range of our back yard. They spend their days hunting for bugs to eat, taking dust baths and clucking at each other. We use their eggs for all of our pastries and ice cream.
Carolina Farmhouse Dairy is a small, first generation dairy farm just north of Durham, NC. They are located on 15 acres, managing and maintaining North Carolina’s first farmstead yogurt dairy farm, with their beautiful herd of Jersey cows. Carolina Farmhouse is run by Cindy Hamrick, who we met in early 2016. Coincidentally, they're located just a mile or two from our friends at Blue Whistler. We use their whole milk for our pastries, ice cream and hot cocoa, and we eat as much of their yogurt as humanly possible.
"Grown and Ground in the South"
Carolina Ground is a flour milling facility located in Asheville, North Carolina. They are devoted to grains grown in the SOUTH. All of their flours are stone ground and cold milled, unbleached, and unbromated. Carolina Ground offers locally-grown and ground bread flour, pastry flour, and rye flour, with the goal of closing the gap between the farmer and baker, so that we may all enjoy a distinctly local flavor. Carolina Ground is run by Jennifer Lapidus, former owner of Natural Bridge Bakery. We have yet to meet Jennifer in person, but we started using Carolina Ground flour in April 2016 and we couldn't be happier with the results!
Counter Culture Coffee is a Durham, NC based coffee roastery founded in 1995. They source coffee from small estates and farms across the globe. To me, Counter Culture is the best coffee a person can get. I am immensely proud that this company is based in Durham. I worked at a coffee shop for several years while I was in college, so coffee plays a significant role in my life. A good cup of coffee + a pastry = life goals.
"We want to share these great coffees as the fresh, seasonal fruits that they are. We only sell coffee at the peak of their flavor and freshness, so our selection of coffees grows and changes as we find other coffees to share. Our seasonal selection of single-origin coffees, limited-release offerings, and year-round selections are, to us, the best expression of coffee's diverse traditions and origins."
We sold Counter Culture pour overs alongside our cupcakes at the NC State Fair for the first time this year, and the response was overwhelming. We also sell Counter Culture at all of the farm markets and community events we attend. It's been an honor to serve Counter Culture Coffee to our community.
Big Spoon Roasters makes handcrafted nut butters from scratch in Durham, N.C. Uniquely fresh, delicious, and nutritious, each small batch is made to order with the best possible ingredients sourced directly from local and like-minded producers. Big Spoon’s philosophy about food is based on the belief that food matters. It matters to our health, our happiness, and the well being of our planet. Food should be delicious, nutritious, and good for all those involved in producing it.
We use Big Spoon Roasters peanut butter in our Milk Chocolate + Salty Peanut Butter cakes and cupcakes and our Chocolate + Peanut Butter Swirl Ice Cream. We're constantly looking for new ways to incorporate this delicious peanut butter into more of our pastries!
Perry Lowe is a sixth generation apple orchard located in the beautiful foothills of North Carolina. They have 100 acres of orchard where they grow 24 varieties of apples. They start harvesting early apples around late June and don’t stop picking until early December.
I grew up going to the NC State Farmers Market in Raleigh most weekends (and still do!) Perry Lowe always has the biggest, best display of peaches in the summer and apples in the fall and winter. I love talking apples with the people at Perry Lowe - they share all kinds of interesting apple knowledge, stories and recipes. We use their apples for our French Apple Tarts, Apple Crisp Ice Cream, Caramel Apple Pies and French Apple Jam. We also serve Perry Lowe apple cider at fall and winter markets. It's the best cider I've ever tasted - we call it liquid gold.
