T[/drop cap]here is something very special about holding a piece of bakery in your hand that is freshly baked. “A cannoli is a lot like life—you must hold delicately and bite firmly,” my friend Clancy once told me. He would know, he ate a lot of cannolis.
What is even more special than getting fresh bakery from behind a counter is getting it from someone that is hosting a pop-up bakery. There will be one this weekend, Saturday, June 13 at Swoon (5422 W. Vliet St.), from 9 a.m. until the treats run out, hosted by Meagan Lewinski.
Like most people with a flair and natural bravado for baking, Lewinski began her career peering over a countertop and helping her grandmother bake grasshopper pies and pineapple upside-down cakes, as well as other delicacies. It was something that carried throughout her life to when she was the head baker at not one, but two neighborhood-famous Milwaukee bakeries (Honeypie, SmallPie).
“I started doing things completely by the book and following recipes to a T. It is a very repetitive process, but it doesn’t take long before you are able to start improvising,” she tells me.
Playing jazz in baking is something very interesting to me, as I thought everything had to be followed down to the granule. Lewinski knows how to play the notes, and showed it by gifting me a blueberry pie that didn’t last 20 minutes in my house.
“I have done weddings, quinceañeras, baby showers, and everything in between. I have been in charge of inventory and head baker of a few places, but my true passion lies in handhelds,” she explains.
There is something truly working class, like Milwaukee itself, about handheld baked goods. It is something eaten on the go, and the DIY ethic is felt in every morsel.
“Savory bakery is my favorite thing to make, because you see so little of it,” Lewinski says.
Truly, it is something of a rarity, which makes it such a treat when it is found. Lewinski boasts a galette made with Hook’s aged cheddar, broccolini, and chili oil—it won’t be available this weekend, but a savory galette with roasted zucchini, manchego cheese, ricotta, and mint will. There will also be single bagels, blistered grape and brie focaccia with homemade hot honey, as well as gluten-free (almond flour) chocolate chip cookies.
Bakery, like many other industries, is one that is subject to trends, and while Lewinski knows how to keep up, she looks to venture into other areas as well. Being well-versed in French patisserie, she knows how to laminate dough, and looks to employ that technique in a few other realms.
“The cupcake craze from 2016 is coming back, and I love it because cupcakes are so easy,” she says. “Mexican bakery is also making its name in mainstream bakery and I would love to learn how to make my own conchas.”
The pop-up this weekend will be Lewinski’s first, and she is hoping people will like her delicacies enough that she will be able to do a second one in the near future.
“It’s exhausting to run a bakery all week long and not have time to make things I would like to make that display my passion and ability. That is the whole purpose of this new venture I am undertaking,” she says.
Indeed, there are few events like this one, and when they do happen they are testaments to the spirit of Milwaukee. Bakeries come and go, but the hands behind them are the real treasures.
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