Gwendy’s Goodies on Second Street in Downtown Ayden grew from owner Gwendy Yiznitsky’s baking for sporting events and other activities that her eight children have been involved in over the years.
Fresh in the season
Gwendy’s Goodies bakes local berries into tasty treats By Christina Ruotolo
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or seven years Ayden has been home to a quaint sweet shop, Gwendy’s Goodies, at 514 Second St. Gwendy’s provides the community with sweet treats for every occasion from cookies, cupcakes, custom cakes and pies to bakery items like cinnamon rolls, brownies, muffins, pastries, eclairs and more. It is a homestyle, scratch-made bakery that brings you back to Grandma’s kitchen. Some have said that walking into Gwendy’s Goodies feels like walking into a Hallmark movie. The bakery also carries products from local roasters, dairies, farmers and producers. For owner Gwendy Yiznitsky, her love of baking started in her youth helping her mom make cupcakes. “As long as I can remember, Mom
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encouraged me to bake from a very young age,” she said. Gwendy also home-schooled her eight children, so baking was a very big part of her family routine. She started making cookies for her kids’ football games and other sporting events. One cookie led to another and when her daughter needed help raising money for a mission trip, she started baking cookies and didn’t stop for three months. She sold $2,000 worth of cookies. Friends loved her baking so much, she wondered if she could do it for a living and if she would still enjoy it if she did it full time. After all of her kids went off to school, the idea of having her own cookie shop was fully baked. Here we are seven years later and Gwendy has never looked back. She started sharing space with a cake baker and then
transitioned to her own shop. The outside is bright red and welcoming. The bell over the front door dings with nostalgic Andy Griffith appeal. The bakery case is gleaming with elegant frosted cupcakes, glistening breakfast pastries, cream puffs bursting with filling, bread puddings and cookies in every flavor. The sight is a sugar wonderland. Gwendy’s favorite baked item to make is the classic pie. It’s quintessential for every baker to have their own pie recipe. “I love making pie. It is one of my favorite desserts and I enjoy the process of making crust from scratch and creating beautiful pies. I also really enjoy decorating cookies.” And it’s not just the baking and sharing that Gwendy has enjoyed — it’s also the feeling she gets knowing she is supporting and fostering the community she
SUMMER-FALL 2022
Gwendy Yiznitsky
loves. “My favorite part about the business of baking is the many opportunities we get to care for the people we serve and the community we are a part of. It is great when we get to help reduce someone’s stress and make their celebration extra special.” So now that you have the lay of Gwendy’s sugar land, let’s indulge our sweet tooth. As many of you know, it’s strawberry season and summer is right around the corner. Many of the treats at Gwendy’s feature fresh produce and dairy from right here in eastern North Carolina. They have an abundance provided by local growers and you can now enjoy all things strawberry, from strawberry rolls, scones, shortcake cupcakes and on Fridays, strawberry pie. The strawberry rhubarb pie was fresh out of the oven. For those wondering what rhubarb
AYDEN MAGAZINE
