Today we’d like to introduce you to Danae & Ryan Albright
Hi Danae & Ryan, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
We connected through our love of baking and after our relationship developed we talked about our aspirations of having a bakery. We figured that registering as Cottage Food Producers was a good way to start our business. At the beginning we were unsure of whether or not people would be interested in our baked goods.
We started offering varied boxes with different treats, such as brioches, conchas (mexican bread) and cookies.
One day we baked Kouign Amann (KA), a rich Breton pastry made laminating butter and sugar. The very first batch of KA we made didn’t look appealing to us, but we added one to each box to complete the orders for that day.
To our surprise, our customers found the KA very delicious. They kept coming back to order just KA, and we decided to only offer that pastry for a while.
Making Kouign Amann is very challenging and time consuming, it uses the same technique as croissants: lamination. In order to laminate dough one must start with two blocks of dough with a block of butter of the same thickness in between. Then the dough should be rolled and folded many times so you end up with thin layers of butter and dough. Laminating by hand is not fun at all, but that is how we started. To make Kouign Amann, sugar must be incorporated as well, resulting in a delicious pastry with a tender center and caramelized base.
With the time we started offering other delicious pastries such as Croissants, Danishes and Caramel Cinnamon Rolls. However, Kouign Amann is our main pastry, and maybe the reason why our small home bakery has became popular.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not being easy at all. We had a very limited working area to begin with, which made it very difficult to keep up with demand at times.
We also didn’t have proper equipment, so it was very hard to get consistent results.
We’ve been impressed with Albright’s Delights, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our Kouign Amann “butter cake” is a must try, it is just perfect. Its inside is tender with sweet, buttery layers with a caramelized finish. It melts in your mouth.
We also offer special Kouign Amann, which are filled with fruits, cream cheese or caramel.
We strive to offer unique products that are not commonly found elsewhere, for example, pistachio, crème brûlée and vanilla berries Croissants or vanilla dark cherry or blueberry lemon curd Danishes.
People can message us through social media to order, and we will bake the order within one or two days.
Pricing:
- Dozen traditional Kouign Amann $36
- Dozen special Kouign Amann $48
- Dozen mix and match pastries $54
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sites.google.com/view/albrights-delights
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delightsalbrights/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Albrights-Delights/61563747537513/?_rdr
