FOOD PROFILE Turning Lemons into a Sweet Bakery Business

Lemon Tree Bakery doesn't have a website or Facebook page, and it doesn't need one. "I don't have time to keep up with it," owner Dale Moser says. &emsp;&emsp;It is just as well since word of mouth is enough to bring people to Moser's side door, where she has been selling treats since 2015. &emsp;&emsp;Driving down North Main Street in Washington, New Hampshire, you'll pass the white clapboard house with the swing sign decorated with a pie and a stack of chocolate chip cookies. Another sign welcomes friends, and if you come after dark, the porch light will guide your way. Inside will be a rotating offering of seasonal pies, cookies, cakes, and of course, lemon bars. On busy days, there is self-serve coffee. All purchases are on the honor system. Moser also takes special orders for everyday treats as well as celebratory sheets and three-tiered cakes. &emsp;&emsp;Each spring, starting in mid-March, Moser opens her home bakery to regular customers and hungry passersby alike. The format is self-serve, but even so, the hours are more than generous. Baked goods are available seven days a week, and Moser says the porch is open from 6 a.m. until midnight. When I confirmed the late hour, she laughed. &emsp;&emsp;"Sometimes campers come through town, and they get hungry," she says. &emsp;&emsp;Moser also sells her pastries and desserts on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Washington farmers' market from Memorial Day to Columbus Day. &emsp;&emsp;Moser bakes through the heat of summer and through the fall and winter holidays, closing the bakery for a rest at the beginning of January. Although Lemon Tree may close, this doesn't mean that Moser stops baking. She uses the winter to test out new recipes and work on expanding new skills. This past winter, she focused on bread, working on her enriched doughs and rustic loaves. Of the countless recipes she tried, she is looking forward to introducing a few to her line-up, including rosemary bread and cardamom bread. Sometimes, if free time allows, she'll watch a baking or cooking show on TV or YouTube to marvel at the skill and competition. "Chopped" is her favorite show. &emsp;&emsp;"They just feel more fierce," she says. &emsp;&emsp;This conveys an important truth about Moser. She is fierce. While outwardly, baking might seem quaint, the actual occupation requires a lot of physical and mental strength. Long hours on your feet, operating a commercial oven in the heat of summer, and calculating proofing and baking schedules is not for the faint of heart. Additionally, though, Moser's fortitude is clear because she has done something that not many people ever do. After baking on the sidelines for most of her life, she followed through on a lifelong goal of opening a bakery. &emsp;&emsp;As Moser neared retirement from her work at Osram Sylvania in Hillsboro, New Hampshire, she began to save for a bigger mixer. That 30-quart Hobart is now just one of a fleet, including a 7-quart Cuisinart and two 5-quart Kitchenaid mixers. The 5-pound bags of flour and sugar she used to buy were quickly replaced by 50-pound bags. She also purchased a commercial oven and went through the process of having her home kitchen certified, a hurdle that is no longer required by the state. A baker from the beginning Long before Moser had had the infrastructure, she had been baking. In High School, Moser spent a lot of time in the home economics kitchen. Her coffee cakes, which she learned to bake there, were so popular she started selling them to other students. While she can't remember precisely what she bought with that coffee-cake-turned-cash, Moser imagined it was most likely clothes. &emsp;&emsp;"Probably bell bottoms," she says. &emsp;&emsp;While her style in jeans has changed, her coffee cake recipe has not. It is still the very same recipe she sells today at Lemon Tree. Moser is faithful to the classics that have served her so well. She still uses the cookbook from her high school home economics class and likes the "Fannie Farmer Cookbook." &emsp;&emsp;"Those old recipes --- they seem more down-to-earth," says Moser. &emsp;&emsp;During the summer of 2020, residents from Boston, New York and surrounding areas came to New Hampshire to stay for the summer and work remotely. Picking up self-serve pastries at Lemon Tree was a safe way to enjoy a treat at a time when other luxuries were scarcer. Moser enjoyed the new customers and the brisker pace of business. Her pies, breads and blueberry crumb coffee cake are always big sellers. Another best seller is her nine-pack of yeasted cinnamon rolls, topped with a glaze containing local maple syrup. &emsp;&emsp;Other customers call in requests and drive from neighboring towns to pick up their orders, like one customer who drives from Peterborough, a 45-minute drive, for four or five loaves of Anadama bread at a time. Anadama bread, a yeasted sandwich loaf containing cornmeal and molasses, is a historical New England loaf and a prime example of how Moser's loyalty to the classics draws in customers. Since the bakery opened six years ago, each year it has grown. &emsp;&emsp;"As long as it increases a little every year, I'm happy," Moser says. &emsp;&emsp;And where did the name "Lemon Tree" originate? &emsp;&emsp;When Moser was a child, she often found herself the third wheel to an exclusive friendship between her older sister and aunt, who were close in age. The girls, who called themselves, peanut butter and marshmallow, would call their unwanted tag-along, Moser, "sour," and when she cried, they called her "lemon tree." &emsp;&emsp;Moser's Lemon Tree Bakery is a not-so-subtle nod to the girl gang of her youth and a message to us all about resilience and the power of sugar to turn our sour experiences sweet. Paige Lindell writes from Rindge, New Hampshire.