Leslie Popiel’s cheerful enthusiasm for bakery is catching – and it’s easy to see why through the delectable handmade creations springing from her Sweetie Pie Bakery. As the charming pastry producer behind those magic ovens, this bakery buff knows a thing or two about making addictive-good treats.

Leslie believes life is too short to waste time eating dry bakery that is devoid of fillings. She bakes the way our mothers and grandmothers did -- never skimping on the real attractions (come on, admit it!) of the pastries such as nuts, fruit, chocolate and real butter. Every item with the Sweetie Pie name is 100% lovingly handmade, with no fillers and only the best ingredients Leslie can find. Best of all, her highly-skilled hands put the delight in each pastry through time- and palate-tested processes that always turn out sweet treats for which her loyal followers literally line up.

Leslie honed her pastry proficiency by baking countless batches of cookies, bread, and cakes alongside her mother and grandmother. She spent summers during college cooking and baking at a summer camp in Michigan, and had the good fortune of working under an incredible chef and some passionate bakers. Most of her recipes are ones that she has adapted from classics over time, or have been handed down through the generations. “Kentucky White Cake” is Leslie’s great-great grandmother’s recipe (which grandma Ada Bemis noted as “good” in the margin). Nut roll and kolacky come from her husband’s Polish family. Super-moist and chunky carrot cake comes from Leslie’s grandmother as well.

At Carriage House Bakery and Market, Sweetie Pie Bakery currently offers nut roll and poppyseed roll, fruit and cream cheese-filled rolls, flaky, buttery danish, and fresh kolacky cookies. New items are molten lava cakes and carrots cakes in single sizes, as well as double-layer Kentucky White Cake, perfectly sized for small gatherings of 2 – 5, or just for a little dessert! (You don’t always have to have a reason to eat cake!)

Sweetie Pie Bakery can be found at www.sweetiepiebakery.net where you can find product description as well as a calendar of farmer’s market dates and other engagements.