In addition to great restaurants and food trucks, Berks County has some amazing bakeries. One of those that I recently discovered is Laissa’s Baked Goods.
I first saw her stand at the pop-up farm market at the Berks County Heritage Center in September. A few weeks later, I was invited by Laissa to try some of the most popular items.
Laissa’s began two years ago. Since then, sourdough breads and other products have been sold at Mediterranean Medley inside the Fairgrounds Farmers Market. This year, the business has expanded to include pop-up events with a full schedule through the early fall.
We caught up with Laissa’s at one of those pop-up events, the one-year anniversary celebration for HoneyPop, the West Lawn-based dirty soda trailer.
Laissa’s table was filled with breads and sweet treats, and we were treated to four favorites: a loaf of sourdough, a brown butter honey Rice Krispie treat, a vanilla chai cinnamon roll and a dirty chai cookie.
We had to try the Rice Krispie treat before we left the event. With brown butter and honey, this treat was anything but traditional. It was very rich and had almost a caramel-like quality to it. In addition to the marshmallow that held the whole thing together, there were large, melty chunks of marshmallow throughout. Our youngest was obsessed over it so we relented and let him have most of it.
Julie and I saved the cinnamon roll for ourselves. It was billed as a vanilla chai cinnamon roll. Both flavors came through in the icing – it was extra sweet with hints of spice from the masala chai that also gave it a darker hue. Coffee mixed with the cinnamon filling reminded me of tiramisu where the coffee is more of a background flavor.
There was a slightly stronger coffee flavor from the espresso in the dirty chai cookie. The cookie was about the size of a hockey puck but incredibly soft on the inside with the consistency and flavor reminiscent of a molasses cookie. The chunks of white chocolate made it a more indulgent sweet treat.
Laissa’s is not all about the sweets. A big part of the product line is sourdough loaves which come in a range of flavors including everything bagel, cheddar jalapeno and garlic rosemary.
We only tried the plain sourdough, but it was very good. It was crusty on the outside and soft in the center with the familiar flavor of a sourdough loaf. It served us well on egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches for several days after.
Laissa’s Baked Goods is popping up at events in Berks County and beyond, but you can also find sourdough loaves and select treats at Mediterranean Medley and Cafe 372 at the Reading Fairgrounds Farmers Market while supplies last.
