The Bakery in Blooming Prairie lets its goods do the talking

This story originally appeared in Progress 2012. Get a copy at the Austin Daily Herald.

Walk down Main Street in Blooming Prairie, and you might find something sweet.

That something sweet is usually inside displays at The Bakery, run by Gregg Fristedt. Fristedt’s baked goods are one of the best parts of Blooming Prairie life.

“We strive for the best quality product we can possibly put out,” he said. “We’re improving things all the time.”

From cakes to cookies, doughnuts to delicious bread, rolls to riveting rosettes, Fristedt’s 16-year-old business has something for everyone.

He came to the area after looking for a way out of the corporate side of baking. His search came with good luck: A friend told him the town was looking for a baked goods business.

“The city was looking for somebody to open up a bakery,” Fristedt said.

Fristedt jumped at the chance, ready to come to town and open up shop.

And boy, is business sweet. Fristedt and his five employees come up with tasty concoctions that draw people from Austin and Owatonna to Iowans and Twin Cities dwellers.

“We’re coming up with different ideas, things that we think will sell, we hope will sell,” Fristedt said.

Rosettes are usually the order of choice in the fall and winter. Fristedt usually sells them from September to Christmas, though he brought them back starting in February until the spring. In addition, there are tasty treats like caramel croissants, date-filled cookies, puff pastries, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and more.

It takes quite a bit of time to make all these tasty treats, however. Fristedt goes to work at 3 a.m. to provide morning doughnuts and goodies for people ready to start the day, often prepping for his busy morning the previous afternoon. That means hundreds upon hundreds of baked goods each day.

“A bakery business is all prep,” Fristedt said.

A little prep and a lot of sugar.