Essential Edibles sells out on opening day

SPRING HOPE — Essential Edibles sold out of baked goods on its first day of business Aug. 15, the downtown bakery announced on Facebook.

"We are incredibly blessed that the community is supporting us with our venture. We could not have done everything we got done if it were not for the people supporting us," co-owner Jennifer Scott Wilkins said.

Along with a self-serve coffee bar, Essential Edibles features pumpkin and apple spice doughnuts, lemon and vanilla cupcakes, yeast-made sticky buns, cookies, ice cream, danishes, cheesecake and a spinach, tomato and mozzarella quiche among its homemade recipes curated by Wilkins, co-owner Michael Ward from Michael's Showside Grill and head baker Mike Gordon.

"Papa's naner pudding" is a banana cream pie from a Wilkins family recipe.

Another family recipe she sells is a "cherry yum-yum," a lemon and cherry banana pudding atop a graham cracker crust.

Fresh biscuits served with Bass Farms sausage seemed to be a popular item when the team had to bake an additional batch just 2 ½ hours after the bakery opened its doors.

Gordon, the head baker and a Spring Hope resident, said the business also will sell seasonal baked goods throughout the year.

Gordon wanted to get back into the restaurant industry and stay close to home, and the stars aligned when Wilkins reached out to him.

He said she was impressed with his portfolio of desserts as a home baker and his experience managing a Dunkin' Donuts in New York for a couple of years.

"I have years of restaurant management experience, and being in the kitchen serving people is my zen," Gordon wrote in a message to The Enterprise. "I love seeing people happy. Knowing I cooked/baked something that will make them happier warms my heart."

Gordon studied culinary arts at a vocational school and said it was one of his best experiences in the kitchen.

He also said he baked for Travis Scott's 2019 Astroworld Tour in Brooklyn, where he made a wall of doughnuts for the artist's VIP area.

Essential Edibles at 122 S. Pine St. is open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. For more information, visit the "Essential Edibles" Facebook page or call the bakery at 252-303-0174.