For many, the trip to the cottage is not complete without a stop at the Gravenhurst Bakery. Whether you enjoy their famous Chelsea buns, or just have to have a loaf of their Muskoka Rye, or savour their mouth-watering selection of pies, cakes, cookies and deli products, you are not alone. Owner Norbert Feuerstein has compared the traffic at his bakery to swarms of mosquitoes buzzing in and out.

  And for good reason. The shop is an honest-to-goodness scratch bakery, best known for their specialty breads, especially the Muskoka and Goodhearth Ryes. Norbert explains that, “the Muskoka Rye may be one of the best-travelled loaves of bread in the world, thanks to the Muskoka snowbirds who stock up before their journey southward.”

  Such is the demand for their Muskoka Rye they have opened the Ontario market for a franchise with it in Canada and the US. And it is also available as a mix for home bread machines, complete with its secret blend of rye and honey. Norbert says that these mixes can also be used in a conventional manner.

  The Gravenhurst Bakery, also known as the Muskoka Bread Factory, is famous for other reasons, too.

  “We have made the largest cake in Muskoka when Prime Minister Chretien was here to dedicate the Wanda III,” Norbert points out.

  The bakery makes all kinds of cakes, including real cream cakes, ice cream cakes and wedding cakes, of course.

  “We do custom cakes including birthday, anniversary, religious, wedding, and even edible pictures on cakes,” Norbert says.

  Their wedding cakes are, “more than just a token presentation,” Norbert explains, adding that, “It is a reflection of your special moments and plays a large part in building those wonderful memories of the most important day of your life.”

  The Gravenhurst Bakery has a delicious range of wedding cake flavours, including chocolate, mocha/coffee, lemon, hazelnut/nougat, mango, and vanilla. They will even add fresh flowers, for the ultimate touch.

  For all of this the Gravenhurst Bakery has received several local and regional awards, including the Readers Choice Awards for the past 2 years. “We have had write-ups about our business and products,” says Norbert, mentioning that their Muskoka Bread was named the Best Bread in Muskoka in the CAA’s Leisure Ways magazine.

  But you won’t catch them resting on their laurels. Quite the opposite, as they are expanding to include wholesale and delivery of their fresh baked products in Muskoka and the surrounding areas.

  For more information on the Gravenhurst Bakery visit their website at www.muskokabread.com, or e-mail at muskokabread@on.aibn.com or call 705-687-3133.