It’s not a well-known fact, but I’m pretty sure that one of the most delicious ways to have breakfast or lunch in the ZCoB is to come out to the Coffee Company (a few hundred feet up the walk from the Bakehouse). Hanging on the wall behind the counter, on the left, you’ll see what we call “The Big Brew Board”—it’s all the ways we offer our coffee varietals (and yes, every single method means a different flavor). To the right, about half its size in both height and length, is the toast menu! While the coffee is, of course, the main point, don’t miss those terrific (if seemingly peripheral) toasts! They are truly tremendous! Great breads from the Bakehouse, toasted and offered in eight different ways. Every single one of them is delicious!

This week, the Coffee Company toast that I have in my mind is the first one on the list—it’s what we’ve come to call over the years “The Caviar of the South.” It starts with a toasted slice of Roadhouse bread from the Bakehouse. If you don’t yet know that loaf, it’s long been one of my favorites. Though no other bakery I know of makes it, here in the ZCoB we’ve brought it center stage! Historically, it’s the old “thirded bread” of New England from the colonial era, a blend of rye, wheat, and corn, nearly all of which we mill right here at the Bakehouse (fresh milling means more flavor and better nutrition!). The bread has, as from its beginnings, had a small bit of molasses in it to sweeten it up just the slightest, barely perceptible bit.

When the toast comes out of the toaster, we spread on a whole bunch of the Creamery’s Pimento Cheese—“the Caviar of the South” so to speak! Then we pour on a little extra virgin olive oil, and last but not least, we add a nice grinding of the Zingerman’s 5-Star Pepper Blend. It’s a blend of five different black peppercorns, put together for us by our friends at Épices de Cru up in Quebec: Tellicherry Reserve (from the original home of pepper, Kerala, on the southwest coast of the country), Mlamala, Rajakumari (the last two from the Cardamom Hills in Southern India), Tellicherry Extra Bold, and Shimoga (from the Indian state of Karnataka.) It’s terrific! Buy a tin for your kitchen table!

“Caviar of the South” makes for a beautiful breakfast, lunch, late morning or late afternoon snack! The toasted grain flavors of the bread, the roundness of the olive oil, the creamy piquancy of the pimento cheese, set against the spiky pepperiness of the 5-Star Pepper … as we often say when we come out with combinations like this where every single element is awesome on its own, “What could be bad?”

Swing by soon! Sip coffee! Eat toast! Have a fun day!

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The Bakehouse 24 Carrot Cake is impressively excellent. Being more of a savory treat fan, it had been a while since I held a plate with a whole slice of cake, but with this one, I tried a bite, smiled, and went back for more! If you need a cake for an upcoming birthday party, a Tuesday evening get-together, or a Sunday afternoon coffee klatch, an empathic act for someone experiencing a trying time, consider ordering one today.

Carrot Cake was once known as “Passion Cake”—with that in mind, we also do them as wedding cakes. What a wonderful way to mark a very special occasion. If you’re thinking of booking a wedding, check out Cornman Farms and Greyline for wedding sites soon, or reach out to the Roadhouse to book a room at the restaurant. We’re already reserving spots for next year! The Deli, Roadhouse, and Miss Kim would all love to talk about catering, bridal showers, or pre-wedding meals as well!

While empathy is a relatively recent idea, carrot “puddings” have a history going back to at least the 11th century in the Middle East, and then later, in England. The late food writer Molly O’Neill once wrote that George Washington was served a carrot tea cake at Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan on November 25, 1783, during what came to be known as “British Evacuation Day.” Carrot cake became particularly popular in Britain during WWII when homebakers needed alternatives to sugar, which was being rationed. It took off in the U.S. in the second half of the 20th century as a healthier dessert option. Today, in 2024, carrot cake is an American cake classic.

Here in the ZCoB, the Bakehouse crew says of the 24 Carrot Cake:

We grate nearly 30 pounds of carrots to make one batch of this cake. All those carrots add an incredible moistness and a fresh sweetness to this classic. Combine that with toasted walnuts, aromatic spices, and the complex flavor from freshly milled grains … you get a great cake that’s totally delicious on its own. Cover it with a generous amount of cream cheese frosting and it becomes irresistible.

It has a wonderful amount of our cream cheese frosting. Not too much. But as the great chef and food writer Edna Lewis once said, “No one has ever complained to me that there’s too much frosting on their carrot cake.” For an additional delight, drizzle with a bit of maple syrup or sorghum, or maybe add a dollop of whipped cream and some chopped spiced pecans.

Swing by the Bakehouse or the Deli to grab a slice soon! It goes great with that beautifully smooth coffee we’ve got on feature from Honduras that’s this month’s Roaster’s Pick from the Coffee Company (see below)!