Annemarie Maitri grew up in a family that loved food. During breakfast, they were already discussing what they’d eat for lunch and dinner. “While growing up, I thought James Beard was a relative because my dad talked about him so much,” Maitri told me as we sat in Bloom Bakeshop, her adorable bakery in Middleton, Wisconsin earlier this month.

Bloom Bakeshop is a must-visit for vegans with a sweet tooth living in or traveling through the Madison area. The store is painted a cheerful turquoise inside, and decorated with the sort of vintage knickknacks your grandmother might have had around her house, if she had really good taste. And you’d be hard-pressed to find a bakery anywhere with more vegan and gluten-free choices. Plus, the pastries are really, really pretty. And Maitri is totally sweet and charming, with lots of energy and sparkly eyes despite raising three kids and probably getting up before the crack of dawn to run her bakery. I don’t know how she does it!

Following her Bakery Dream

Bloom will celebrate its fifth anniversary in February. But Maitri’s route to baking success was not a straight shot. She has a BA in psychology and a masters in nursing home administration – not exactly what you’d expect from the person making your wedding cake. In her previous life, she worked in marketing for the American Cancer Society.

But always she heard the call of the cupcakes. “I’ve always been obsessed with dessert,” she said. In her family of cooks, “I was the dessert girl.”

Maitri was especially interested in good quality food that didn’t strain the planet or exploit the people who grew it. “I read every Michael Pollard book,” she said. She knew she wanted to open a sustainable organic bakery. But with three small kids at home, was that possible?

She found a company called Vocation Vacations – now PivotPlanet —  that helps people test drive their dream jobs. She apprenticed at a bakery in Ohio during the wedding cake season. “I saw everything,” she said. “I saw the real deal of what can happen.”

Afterwards, the owners sat her down and said, “We have no doubt you can do this. But you really like your kids.” She realized she didn’t want to work all day every day. So she started out opening on only Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 to 7, and slowly grew from there.

Vegan and Gluten-free

Maitri isn’t vegan or gluten-free herself, but she loves a baking challenge. And there was definitely a demand. For the sake of efficiency and display space, all her gluten-free pastries are vegan and vice-versa. “My first vegan, gluten-free experiment was a pumpkin cupcake,” she said. “It turned out horrible. But my customers believed in me. I experimented. My customers helped me shape my recipes.”

In the early days of Bloom, she only offered a few choices every day. Now her staff of five makes 10 different traditional pastries, and 10 vegan and gluten-free, on weekdays. On Saturday, Bloom’s busiest day, customers can choose from 15 different treats. Some of Bloom’s most popular baked goods are raspberry buckles, mint chocolate ganache cupcakes and salted caramel cupcakes.

The pastries are ever-evolving as Maitri experiments with different ingredients. Right now she likes sorghum flour, coconut flour and chia seeds. “I’m pulling back from xanthan gum [frequently used in gluten-free baking] because it gives some people digestive problems,” she said.

Weddings have become a big part of Bloom’s business. This year, they baked cakes and pies for 95 weddings. Without a freezer. Everything is done fresh. Sometimes her small staff does five weddings in a single weekend.

Doing it Her Way

As Maitri’s business develops, she stays true to her ideals. Which is not always easy. When she initially opened for only three days a week, reviewers criticized her. She felt hurt, but stuck by her determination to acclimatize her family to the bakery before expanding its hours. “We live in a society where people want things to be open seven days per week,” she said. “But if we want small businesses to live, we have to change our expectations.” So with Bloom, Maitri models taking care of herself, her family and her employees.

Making everything from scratch, with top quality ingredients, is another of her inconvenient ideals. Bloom makes its own lemon curd, ganache and caramel. In fall, they roast all the pumpkins and sweet potatoes used in the bakery. Maitri carefully sources ingredients. Her locally grown, organic eggs cost $4 per dozen. Her organic butter costs $5 per pound. This results in excellent pastries but low profit margins.

The response from nearby businesses and their owners has been very satisfying.  “The other restaurant owners are supportive and cooperative rather than competitive,” she said. Fortunately, Madison’s townspeople keep its best eateries afloat.  “There’s a lot of dessert to go around and a lot of mouths to feed.”