Amish-inspired bakery Connemara Baking Co. opens in Wantagh

The Lancaster Amish are thought to be some of the best bakers in the world, known for their arduous hand mixing techniques and soft pastries made with generous helpings of fresh butter. Their famous frosting-filled whoopie pies are a staple at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, where Amish cafes can be an even bigger draw than the cheesesteak vendors. 

Now you can get the homey Pennsylvania delights on Long Island, and not just the packaged Hostess kind. This October, wholesale baker Katie Bortell moved into a small space by the Wantagh train station, selling an array of pies, cookies and breads inspired by the bakers at her family vacation home in Pennsylvania Dutch country. Connemara Baking Co. is only open for retail sales on Saturdays, but takes call-in and website orders throughout the week.

In the style of the Lancaster Amish, Bortell prepares everything from scratch and hand mixes a large amount of her pastries. Although it's more difficult, hand mixing yields a softer, more even product. 

"Nothing gets tough, it doesn't dry out. You just stop when the ingredients are combined," she said.  Amish baking is old-fashioned, she added. "They're not worried about what's the latest trend … It's just wholesome, delicious baking." 

Bortell doesn't always have the whoopie pies in stock, but on a recent Saturday her case was brimming with mini apple hand pies, coconut cream cheese cupcakes and a Lancaster specialty she calls Amish sugar cookies. Shorter but fatter than a typical sugar cookie, this treat was pleasantly toothsome and sweet with its cream cheese frosting and squiggle of chocolate ganache on top. 

I also enjoyed a mini apple pie, dainty and sweet with some more of that cream cheese frosting. But the biggest seller (and my personal favorite) was the carrot cake cupcake, which is also completely done by hand. The cupcake's compact nature gave you a little taste of all the cakey and creamy elements in one perfect bite.

Connemara, named after a picturesque region of Western Ireland, also sells crusty loaves of soda bread done in the traditional Irish style perfected by Bortell's grandmother Lillian, plain without any sweet raisins or currants. It's still fabulous, especially when smeared with a generous serving of warm butter. 

Connemara will be open Christmas Eve for its regular hours. Complimentary coffee, tea and hot chocolate are offered to every customer throughout the month of December. 

Connemara Baking Co. is at 3256 Railroad Ave., Wantagh. Open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays; 516-234-5060, connemarabakingco.com.

By Andi Berlin

andi.berlin@newsday.com

Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.