Gwendy’s Goodies bakes local berries into tasty treats

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

Gwendy Yiznitsky

By Christina Ruotolo

For 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, mu ns, 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. e 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 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. A er all of her kids went o 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. e outside is bright red and welcoming. e bell over the front door dings with nostalgic Andy Gri th appeal. e bakery case is gleaming with elegant frosted cupcakes, glistening breakfast pastries, cream pu s bursting with lling, bread puddings and cookies in every avor. e 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 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. ey 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. e strawberry rhubarb pie was fresh out of the oven. For those wondering what rhubarb

During the summer months, Yiznitsky incorporates locally grown fruits and berries into her fresh baked goodies.

is, it’s a very underrated and delectable vegetable. ey are rich in antioxidants, particularly anthocyanins (which give it its red color), which help protect you from many ailments. Rhubarb has a sour yet citrusy sweet tang like a cross between a lime and lemon. Mix that tartness with the sweet ripeness of a fresh strawberry and the result is pie magic. Gwendy makes her own pie dough, and when the pie comes out bubbling on the top with sweet red juices and a sugar crusted top, the smell is like summer on an Italian lemon tree farm. e crust is aky and buttery. Mix those so butter notes with the tart and bright strawberry/rhubarb inside and your taste buds come alive and sing. Try it for yourself. e strawberry shortcake cupcake is topped with strawberry frosting. Start with a vanilla cupcake, ll the core with gooey strawberry compote and top it will a luscious strawberry frosting that literally melts in your mouth. Silly as it may sound, it tasted magical like swimming inside a rainbow, and the pot of gold at the end was the strawberry core. is is an all-time favorite cupcake avor combination. en there is the strawberry cinnamon rolls and the strawberry cheese danish. Anyone who has the patience to make either of these is to be commended as the prep work to make the thick cinnamon roll dough and the aky, laminated pastry dough is laborious. Both are divine and when you taste one for yourself you will know why these are two of Gwendy’s best sellers.

To round out the strawberry tour, try the cream pu lled with strawberry cream cheese lling and the strawberry

Strawberries are a staple in cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, Danishes, and strawberry rhubarb pies. bear claw. Once again, thank you Gwendy for making the Pâte à Choux dough — a chemical wonder made with eggs, our and butter that has to be the perfect consistency when piped so it billows up into pillows of cream pu heaven. Layer in creamy sweet strawberry cream cheese pastry cream and the pu s are decadent and rich. e bear claw is made with pu pastry that pu s up and wraps around the cream cheese and strawberry lling. It’s sugar-crusted and aky on top and dreamy in the middle. Don’t forget to also try their classic eclair lled with vanilla pastry cream and topped with a layer of chocolate ganache.

A er strawberry season, Gwendy’s will feature all things blueberry and keep moving into each season, bringing you the sweetness everyone deserves. Show them some love and stop by the next time you crave a special treat. No matter what you try at Gwendy’s you will nd amazing avors and a down-home community feel.

Gwendy’s Goodies is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. To place an order, call 252-414-8716, visit their website, gwendysgoodies.com, or use their app.