Baked in Brooklyn

A sunny spring day was made up of a lot of walking as we led maman and papa across Gowanus, up through Park Slope (via Milk Bar for coffee), around Prospect Park, along Windsor Terrace (with a quick stop for lunch at Krupa Grocery - fab grilled cheese), and finally we followed our noses down to Greenwood cemetery.

When I say we followed our noses, I mean it quite literally. Before starting our sun-drenched explorations of Greenwood cemetery we were looking for a quick coffee and sugar stop at Baked in Brooklyn. Once you're about 10 blocks away from this bakery, you know it. The scent of cinnamon buns and freshly baked bread fills the air around Greenwood. I am honestly tempted to pick up my belongings and move to an apartment in this south Brooklyn neighborhood just so I can be surrounded by the smell of freshly baked treats all day, every day.

The factory-esque exterior of Baked in Brooklyn isn't a facade, as us New Yorkers have come to expect from most warehouse buildings in this city. Once inside, glass interior walls divide you from the real bread and bun making. Expert bakers plait 6-braided challah loaves in less than a minute (Great British Bake Off contestants could really learn something from their skills), perfect spheres of dough plop out from a loaf shaping machine, and freshly baked loaves run down the conveyor belt, to be collected and checked for quality by a trusted baker at the bottom of the run.

After I'd got over the excitement of watching the speed of the loaf-plaiting man, and debated for a while about whether I should quit my job and come and work in this bread-baking heaven, I returned to the important matters at hand, and set about deciding what we should eat. Iced coffees and cinnamon buns were the final decision, followed by the free butter 'cookies' filled with jam that they were offering around. The bun was fluffy, and light, and sweet, and as perfect as a sugar-filled American-style cinnamon bun should be. When every layer and scrap of icing had disappeared, we finally had the energy to tackle the roaming hills of Greenwood cemetery.

Baked in Brooklyn, 755 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11232