Vander Ploeg Bakery — Restaurant in Pella

Make sure to ask what is fresh. Since this is a small bakery they don't have a lot of things cooking at once. We got a Dutch letter, a cherry donut home, a butter pecan sweet bun and a chocolate Bismarck and a strawberry rhubarb bread. The letter was delicious and the ends are caramelized for a crunchy sweetness. The cherry donut hole, was like a glazed bready maraschino cherry. The Bismarck had a cream that was like boiled frosting (marshmallow texture with a frosting taste). The let down was the sweet bun, but they did warn me that it had been sitting out for a while. The bread was probably the worst strawberry rhubarb pie I've ever had, but then again it was bread with small tastes of pie throughout which is kinda...

We were told to go here as there's a more popular bakery in town but they said the Dutch letters are their favorite here. It was Pella's holiday weekend so there was a lot of people. The line was long and I wish they had more than 2-3 people working behind the counter because the line went extremely slow. But I'm sure on a different weekend when there isn't so much action, it's probably faster. I love the vibe and I couldn't take as many pictures because there were so many people and I wanted to respect their privacy. I'm glad there's more competition in town for a great bakery. Both can succeed! Their decorated sugar cookies...

*Purchasing Dutch Letters from 2nd hand retailers.

These have really gone down hill. I challenge someone to find crispy ones. Anymore they are stale. Absolutely no crisp or freshness. These used to be my favorite now I’ve thrown the last few packages in the trash. I’m not sure if they are just degrading rapidly or they’ve been frozen or if they have been sitting for awhile. Maybe they need to be packaged differently. I’m not sure. But I used to buy these once a week. I have no desire to buy another. Am I the only one that’s noticed this?

*Buying them from the bakery direct they are great so I’m not...