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Alycia Delaney and Melanie Davies’ love for baking started in their childhood homes.
Delaney used to make apple pies with her mother back in her home state of Maine, while Davies, a Bellport native, has fond memories of baking Christmas cookies with her Oma.
Davies recalled always looking forward to baking German butter cookies with her grandmother and, at a young age, she already knew exactly what the wanted to be when she grew up.
“Every year I would be so, so excited, I couldn’t wait,” Davies said. “It was always the magic of the Christmas season, and at 7 years old I said I’m gonna be a baker.”
Now in adulthood, the two friends combined their passion for pastries and started their own baked goods business, Brown Butter Bakeshoppe.
Brown Butter Bakeshoppe is Delaney and Davies’ home-based bake shop where they make pastries ranging from extravagant cakes to customized cookies.
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With over 30 years of experience in the food industry, the pair departed from the busy world of catering to start their own business about a year and a half ago. And in the past few months, the business has really been picking up.
Delaney, an Islip Terrace resident, said her experience in the food industry started when she worked as a dishwasher while attending the University of Maine.
“I ended up becoming close with some of the cooks there, and they would let me help do prep work,” Delaney said. “Then they started having me help more and more seeing that I could cook.”
After college, she decided to attend culinary school and later transitioned into baking.
“I really excelled in the pastry classes that they had, and then I decided I wanted to focus on the pastry,” Delaney said.
Through her internship in Maine, she gained experience making wedding cakes, maintaining the cake cases, and orders. She continued her pastry education at Johnson and Wales Univesity in Rhode Island.
Before working with Davies, Delaney started baking solo for friends and family but wanted to explore beyond.
The pair met while working together at a catering company in Long Island City, formed a friendship, and partnered up to manage Brown Butter Bakeshoppe on the side.
The two were working full-time and, back in December, Davies gave birth to her daughter.
COVID-19 hit Long Island while she was on maternity leave, leaving her without a job to go back to. Delaney was working as a pastry chef for a bakery in Sayville and was laid off because of the pandemic.
“Because we were working full-time, we could only take on so much,” Delaney said. “We’ve been wanting to focus on our own business and really get it going, so that’s kind of what we did,” Delaney said.
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Davies said a brick-and-mortar location for their bakeshop is in their future and she hopes they can find a place on the South Shore, or even in her hometown in Bellport.
The partners are currently forming a business plan and searching for storefronts in hopes of one day opening a physical location of their business.
“I want to be somewhere that needs a bakery, that wants a bakery,” Delaney said.
Davies said Brown Butter Bakeshoppe is more than just cakes and cookies. They offer a variety of dessert platters, brownies, cake pops, and her personal favorite, crème brûlée.
Their signature cake is brown butter with salted caramel filling, which Davies said is her favorite to taste test while baking.
“I just eat sugar all day long,” Davies joked. “I know some bakers don’t really eat what they make, but we definitely enjoy it, and you have to taste it.”
Looking to order some dessert for your next special occasion? Brown Butter Bakeshoppe can be found on Instagram and Facebook.
Top: One of Brown Butter Bakeshoppe’s creations.
All photos provided by Alycia Delaney
