Breaking News in Bakery: The Cornbread Update

Our bakery buyers had to scramble after Personal Chef, the Mt. Airy-based seafood restaurant and supplier of our cornbread, closed on short notice earlier this year.

After we considered a number of options (including making our own), My House, the Swarthmore baker of cookies and pies, agreed to extend their reach to cornbread. Their wrapped singles can now be found in Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill. In Ambler, Bakery Buyer Rob Drake has substituted Le Bus rolls at the soup station for now.

But this year has signaled major changes to daily bakery fare at all three stores.

Noreen, the Glenside baker who’s supplied loaf cakes, bars and cookies to the Co-op since the ‘70s, is scaling back. Gone are the loaves, lemon and coconut dream bars and iced brownies. She’s also cut down on her cookie flavors, concentrating on chocolate chunk, oatmeal chocolate chip, orange cream cheese and Russian tea nummies.

Variety continues to rule the cake shelves, however. Roz’s of South Philly, baker of the cupcakes in Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill, has had her own section of the loaf rack in the Hill for a couple of years. Now she’s added zucchini bread and mini Jewish apple cakes to her to banana-chip and banana-nut cakes. Mt. Airy currently stocks Roz’s pumpkin loaf only, and also offers slices of assorted Le Bus pound cakes.

West Philly’s Metropolitan Bakery jumped in to fill the bar void: They now keep Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill stocked with lemon bars and raspberry bars; Mt. Airy also carries their brownies. Also, My House — them again! — has added Rice Krispie treats.

In short, some of your faves may be gone, but there are still plenty of local baked goods to satisfy.

— Karen Plourde