Kelsey Wolfe started her home-based bakery, Windy Lane Bakehouse, in 2019. In late November — just in time for Thanksgiving pickups — she moved the biz from its eponymous street into a shop in downtown Randolph.
Still called Windy Lane Bakehouse, the bakery is one of several new businesses in the former Belmains retail space at 15 North Main Street. Wolfe, 35, bakes “a little bit of everything,” she said, including tarts, bars, cakes and breakfast pastries, such as brioches, cinnamon rolls, muffins and sticky buns.
“Maple-walnut éclairs are definitely the most popular,” Wolfe said. “People really show up for maple.”
Wolfe started her career at Sweet Simone’s in Richmond, where she worked as a baker and kitchen manager. She also attended the New England Culinary Institute for a year and, after launching her home bakery, worked part time at Montpelier’s Birchgrove Baking.
“It got to a tipping point where I outgrew the kitchen at home,” Wolfe said. “This was a great opportunity to put down roots in my own community, take a chance and participate.”
Right now, Wolfe is the only person in the kitchen. Windy Lane is open Thursday through Sunday, serving drip coffee and tea alongside a daily selection of baked goods. The cookie selection includes gluten-free options as well as standard offerings, such as chocolate chunk. Cakes, ranging from classic birthday to the lemony Sunshine Daydream, are also available for special order.
“I enjoy the fact that baking is not a necessity in life,” Wolfe said. “It’s purely for joy, pleasure, nostalgia, comfort and all those parts of being human.”
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This article appears in The Wellness Issue 2023.
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