Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
OPENING — The Cake & Ladle Café will be opening Monday, Oct. 21 at 23 Market Square. Owner Janet Hansen is ready to showcase her talents in the kitchen, as well as her reputation as a cake maker. The Cake & Ladle Café will sell an assortment of homemade goodies, traditional as well as a healthier alternative.
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
Janet Hansen is bringing her baking talent to 23 Market Square, as she is opening “The Cake & Ladle Café” on Monday, Oct. 21.
The Cake & Ladle Café — a name her husband suggested — has an assortment of healthy alternatives on its menu. However, if you like the traditional baked goods, she will have those on hand too.
“We won’t have any deep-fried foods,” said Hansen. “Nothing on the grill. It will be pretty much what I serve at home. You can still have delicious food with it being healthy and not feel guilty.”
Her menu will include such tasty treats as muffins, scones, cookies and cupcakes to a hearty lunch menu of salads, quiche, soups and pot pies. She is also offering limited vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free products. The café will be serving Fair-Trade coffee and Harney& Sons tea.
The Cake & Ladle Café will be open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily except for Wednesday and Sunday. During the winter months, the café will be following the school closure schedule.
“I was hoping to [attract] the people who work downtown, especially on Monday, because everything else is closed,” added Hansen.
Hansen is familiar with running a bakery, as she previously owned her own in New Hampshire. Her shop was 40 miles north of Boston.
“People had different needs and expectations,” she said. “The clientele is totally different from here, as well as the economic situation.”
The Cake & Ladle Café pricing will be affordable, with the exception of the organic and gluten-free lines.
“It will depend on my costs,” she said. “But, it will be the lowest I can go.”
Hansen’s trade discovered her, as she studied interior design in college. When Hansen’s children were young, they moved from Seattle to New Hampshire and not wanting to just leave her children with total strangers, she decided to stay at home and to help with the income, she started baking.
Hansen is a self-taught baker, growing up with her mother who baked homemade goodies for family, friends and church members.
“I started the business from my home in 1993,” she explained. “I baked for friends. Then, I opened a bakery in 2002.”
Hansen closed her bakery after three years after reuniting with her second husband at their 30th class reunion.
“I decided to concentrate on our marriage,” she said. “Then, before we knew it, we found property in Cary and moved here in 2008.”
During her transition to the area, Hansen became involved with the Northern Maine Chamber Orchestra.
“I am pleased with the strong music atmosphere in the community,” she added.
But, Hansen couldn’t stay idle.
“I was the ‘cake lady,’” she said. “I always wanted to bake again and have another bakery.”
Hansen’s baking expertise while in New Hampshire was primarily in an all-occasion and wedding cake business. She also bakes three-dimensional cakes, as well.
“Prices will vary depending on size, design and intricacy of what a customer wants,” Hansen explained. “I just have fun with it.”
With a light opening on Monday, Oct. 21, The Cake & Ladle Café will start with a basic menu. Hansen will also be open to customer’s suggestions.
“If you are looking for a healthier, but delicious homemade food, this is the place,” she said. “As a whole, it is a better, healthier type of food. Over the course of many years, I have turned healthier. But, I want to cater to everyone, so I will have the decadent desserts, too. I am also going to have sugar-free, meaning sugar substitute like Stevia, honey, organic maple syrup or Agave.”
The Cake & Ladle Café will be delivering to the immediate downtown area during January and February.
“We know people don’t want to go out in the snowy months,” Hansen said. “These are also our slower months, so this will keep us out in the community,”
Though Hansen feels she is starting her new venture a bit late in the season, she may find that her fall opening may be a welcomed change in Market Square.
“The last four years, I’ve been searching for the perfect place,” she said. “This is it.”
The Cake & Ladle Café has installed a kitchen in the back of the bakery so food will be hot and there will be tables for people to sit down and enjoy a meal or food will be prepared to go, as well.
Hansen will have two other ladies helping her at the café.
“I wanted to fill the niche of a healthier restaurant need,” she said.
Hansen will not be taking special orders the first week of her opening. She will begin taking those orders the first of November. To place an order, call 532-4400. A portion of The Cake & Ladle Café will go toward the Ark Animal Sanctuary, Houlton Humane Society and Smile Train.
