Photos: Chris Emeott
Dorothy Ann Bakery & Cafe honors its heritage with holiday recipes.
The scent of sugar, butter and nostalgia drifts through the doors of Dorothy Ann Bakery & Cafe every December. For two decades at its current location—and for generations before that in kitchens across St. Paul—this family has been shaping dough and upholding its heritage.
Ed Durin opened the bakery and named it after his wife, Dorothy Ann. When Walter “Wally” Grochowski purchased it in 1951, he decided to keep the name. At the heart of Dorothy Ann is the daughter of former owner, Joan Conway, and her husband, Steve Conway, plus their daughter, Colleen Cicalello, who now carries the torch as a third-generation baker. For the family, December is one of the busiest months on the calendar.
“We’ve had a lot of family recipes that we still use periodically throughout the entire year,” Colleen says. “Christmas brings out a whole other 50 to 60 products that we don’t do throughout the year.” Those items include house-made candy, several varieties of coffee cake, fruitcake, gingerbread and Rosettes.
Those recipes, safeguarded and shared across generations, are the soul of Dorothy Ann. Among them, the Poppyseed Coffee Cake holds a particularly dear place in Joan’s heart. “One of my first memories growing up was baking with my Grandma Vickie,” she says. “I specifically remember listening to my grandma talk about taking the bus to downtown St. Paul to her favorite food store to buy poppyseeds. I would then watch her boil them in milk before beginning the process of creating one of our family favorites, Poppyseed Coffee Cake. To this day, I cannot spend Christmas morning without eating a Poppyseed Coffee Cake.”
A popular holiday treat, Kringle Cane Coffee Cake takes center stage on Christmas morning.
Those holiday flavors stretch far beyond poppyseed. Each year during the holiday season, the bakery transforms its Danish dough into festive candy cane- and wreath-shaped coffee cakes, filled with raspberry cream cheese or almond paste. The Kringle Cane Coffee Cake, Colleen notes, is their most popular, acting as a centerpiece for Christmas mornings across the community, and a go-to gift for local businesses.
Other specialties are made only during the holidays, including an original recipe for Old-Fashioned Cheese Coffee Cake, which is made with mild baker’s cheese imported from Chicago. “… It’s a family recipe made only four days out of the whole year,” Colleen says. “It continues to get more popular year after year.”
The same holds true for Dorothy Ann’s hand-pulled Rosettes, created in lacy shapes and topped with a delicate sugar coating. “They take a lot of time. They’re a labor of love,” Colleen explains. “That’s part of our being. We like doing things the old-fashioned way and keeping traditions alive. Rosettes are a thing we have to make.”
While the flavors are rooted in history, the family has allowed Dorothy Ann to evolve with the times. “In terms of how we’ve modernized, it’s variety in the store,” Colleen says, noting how decorated cookies and trendy cakes grace the cases. “The tried-and-true recipes … have not changed at all.”
For Steve, holiday baking goes back to his own childhood. “I was the oldest of five kids, so I got involved baking with my mother in the kitchen at a young age,” he says. “Around the holidays, my job was to roll out the cookie dough, by hand, for the fancy Christmas shapes. She also taught me how to make the buttery frosting to decorate the cookies.
Joan and Steve Conway with daughter Colleen Cicalello (middle). Photo: Dorothy Ann Bakery & Cafe
“Once I arrived on the bakery scene with Joan, one of the first eye-opening things to see was the volume of shapes and designs of cut-out cookies,” Steve says. “I was so impressed and intrigued at all the different styles, options and flavors of cookies at the holidays.”
The holiday spirit goes beyond the display cases, spilling into the bakery itself. Since 2008, Dorothy Ann has unveiled elaborate gingerbread displays, spending upwards of 200 hours crafting entire scenes out of spiced dough and icing. Past themes have ranged from Frozen to farmhouse life to last year’s Taylor Swift-inspired “Merry Swiftmas.”
There are also the Conway family celebrations held inside Dorothy Ann. Each Thanksgiving weekend, dozens of family members fill the bakery after hours for their gingerbread house decorating tradition. “We play Christmas music and have 20 to 30 kids here,” Colleen says. “My kids, my cousins, aunts and uncles are all participating … This is our Thanksgiving and Christmas together.”
Togetherness and tradition are what it’s all about for the family. “I am the third generation, and we’re proud of it,” Colleen says. “We pride ourselves on being a family-owned business.”
Sweet Creativity
Each December and throughout the year, Dorothy Ann Bakery & Cafe invites community members to roll up their sleeves and join in on the decorating fun. The series of seasonal classes, hosted by Joan Conway and Colleen Cicalello, includes cake, cookie and cupcake decorating, and are designed to inspire creativity. The classes are welcoming to all ages and skill levels, including first-time decorators and seasoned regulars.
Find more information about the classes at dorothyannbakery.com.
