Visiting Hender’s Bake Shop & Cafe

As the Small Business Technical Assistance Exchange wound down this May, CVEDC met with program participants to hear stories of how the projects went. One visit was to Hender’s Bake Shop & Cafe of Waterbury.

Photo credit: Shannon Alexander, Hender’s Bake Shop & Cafe (Waterbury).

I have followed owner Jessica Wright through a few careers; she first tickled my taste buds preparing brunches for her sister’s Hostel Tevere of Warren (now under new ownership). Hender’s was born in 2016 and is eight years old. Jessica attended the Culinary Institute of America and had worked in restaurants in Cape Cod before returning to Vermont and eventually, opening her own.

Photo credit: Shannon Alexander, Hender’s Bake Shop & Cafe (Waterbury).

Central Vermont has quite a few local options for variations on “the doughnut,” but Jessica’s offering, technically a cruller, is the one that pulls on my family’s sweet tooth. Buttery and rich yet light as air and with kid-friendly flavors (Fruity Pebbles and salted caramel tie for top choices).

Jessica’s shop has been closed this summer, reopening later this month, for the arrival of her first child. She’s back at it August 22.

Photo credit: Shannon Alexander, Hender’s Bake Shop & Cafe (Waterbury).