6 minute read
Meister
GOING LIKE Hot Cakes
Baker Meister opens in Elkhorn to huge sales
By Jennifer Eisenbart
STAFF WRITER
It didn’t take Baker Meister long to become a hit in Elkhorn.
The bakery, which had moved from Okauchee this year because of a fire, opened at 6 a.m. Oct. 1 to a primed audience. The bakery was sold out by 1:03 p.m., according to a Facebook post by an Elkhorn resident.
Actually, the bakery had run out of items not once, not twice, but three times that day.
“By the third time doing that, the guys were so tired,” said Gwendolyn Schuerstedt, co-owner of the bakery with her husband Michael. The couple and their sons brought the new bakery to life this week, bringing back a welcome option for devoted followers.
“We’re a damned good bakery,” she said the day before the opening.
She had expected the bakery’s following to travel to Elkhorn, which is roughly an hour from the couple’s previous location in Okauchee (near Oconomowoc).
“The customers that we had? We tried our best to remember their names,” Gwendolyn said.
After a fire March 1, Gwendolyn and Michael were left without their family business. Ironically, they were making paczkis for Fat Tuesday when the fire happened. It left the couple without a place of business, as repairs and renovation would take time.
Gwendolyn praised property owner Hans Weissgerber for helping them get their start in Okauchee, as he helped promote them in the community and support them with orders. But the bakery had to look for a new home.
Gwendolyn said she was reminded of an old saying when the couple was out driving in the area, looking for an RV.
“When one door closes, another door opens,” she said.
She and Michael happened to be traveling through Elkhorn when they saw the “for sale” sign in front of the old Lakeland Bakery building, located at 421 N. Wisconsin St., Elkhorn. The former bakery, open for 63 years, was a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic, closing in May of 2020.
It turned out to be a near-perfect location, though, for Baker Meister, which was unable to reopen any time soon at the previous location.
“It’s huge in here,” Gwendolyn said. “We fell in love with it right away.”
She added that when they called the number on the “for sale” sign, “light bulbs went off.”
Judging by the turnout opening day, it was a bright bulb. The couple offers everything from savory Bavarian pretzels – in two sizes, regular and the oversized “fun” size – to everyday cookies and breads.
The pretzels, though, have a reputation for being the best. The Schuerstedts use handmade dough, dipped and shaped by hand, in a secret “sauce” before baking.
“You can dip it in cheese, or whatever,” Gwendolyn explained, adding that in-shop dips for the pretzels will be coming.
The bakery will also be offering Bienenstich torte cake, Black Forest cake and a large variety of puff pastries. Those include apple and cherry turnovers, cream horns, elephant ears, cinnamon twists and cherry cheese pockets, as well as coffee cakes, streusel and cringle.
“We’re going to add to it as we go,” Gwendolyn said. “Those are our best sellers.”
Baker Meister Bakery, at 421 N. Wisconsin St. For more information, call 262-379-1463.
top: Co-owner Michael Schuerstedt shows off the handmade Bavarian pretzels that the store is famous for. above: The first customer for Baker Meister was Scott McClory, District IV alderman in Elkhorn.
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