Hemstrought's Bakery
Honoring a Century of Baking While Evolving with the Times
Anyone who grew up in central New York knows that Hemstrought’s Bakery is a sacred part of life. “There’s school, there’s church, there’s work, and there’s Hemstrought Halfmoons,” says Daniel Dowe, a Utica native who bought and breathed new energy into the iconic bakery in 2019. “Hemstrought’s baked goods, especially Halfmoons, are a staple of any celebration: picnics, birthday parties, weddings and holiday gatherings. They’re nostalgic and symbolic of this area.”
The Halfmoon cookie was one of Harry B. Hemstrought’s original products when he founded the bakery in downtown Utica in 1920. For those unfamiliar with this beloved treat, it’s a moist, cakelike cookie bottom, in chocolate or vanilla (yes, chocolate is more popular), topped with rich fudge and luscious vanilla buttercream frosting, carefully hand-frosted by a dedicated team of “frosters.” Everything at Hemstrought’s is prepared from scratch, using what Dan calls “kitchen cupboard ingredients”—butter, eggs, flour, milk, bricks of chocolate and real vanilla. A team of bakers and frosters work the mixers and ovens seven days a week to ensure patrons enjoy the freshest baked goods. While Hemstrought’s once operated 11 retail outlets scattered like sprinkles throughout the Mohawk Valley, business has now been consolidated in the 18,000-square-foot flagship facility at the corner of the arterial highway and Oswego Street in Utica. That’s where bakers and frosters crank out 12,000 Halfmoons every day, approximately three million a year!
“All of our baked goods taste so good and evoke such reverence because we’ve stayed true to the handcrafted process and care that goes into making them. Yelena Fletcher is a great example of our company’s culture of hard work and care. She has frosted Halfmoons for over 20 years at Hemstrought’s and scowls when a cookie is not right and she has to reject it. Her supervisor, Bella Oszust, calls them ‘my cookies’ as she oversees production. These people take real pride and ownership,” Dan explains. “As we celebrated our 100th anniversary in 2020, we dipped back into the original Hemstrought’s recipe book and reintroduced a ‘new’ original product each month, including apple rolls, iced cinnamon buns, wine drop cookies and fry cakes—an old-fashioned cake batter donut that comes plain, dusted with confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon or chocolate frosted.” The bakery also reinstated the classic butter cookie, hand-dipped in chocolate or vanilla glaze topped with sprinkles. Halfmoons and butter cookies are available in all chains like Hannaford, BJ’s, Price Chopper and Walmart grocery stores throughout New York, and you can order directly from the bakery’s website (hemstroughts.com). “We ship fresh every Monday and Tuesday so they arrive at your door within three days,” Dan notes.
The fragile, yellowed pages of the century-old recipe book and associated box of recipe cards contain troves of data and rich history that still inspire Hemstrought’s bakers. Yet while Dan cheerleads the bakery’s heritage, he embraces innovation as well. In 2021, his team introduced the Sun Up, a playful twist on the chocolate and vanilla half-moon. Fresh orange zest infuses the vanilla cookie bottom and the cheerful orange and white buttercream frosting. “It tastes like the Creamsicles we used to eat as kids!” says Dan with his infectious enthusiasm. Other new offerings include sweet and savory buttery pastries, hearty breakfast sandwiches on homemade English muffins and crostini.
But what has Dan most excited is the four-deck Bongard oven, which he calls the “Mercedes S-class of artisan bread ovens.” Installing that piece of equipment allowed him to attract Ernesto Gonzales, a world-class baker who had overseen the bread programs for renowned New York City restaurants owned by Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich, as well as Eataly, Orwashers Bakery and Balthazar Bakery. “Ernesto’s a hard worker with a 25-year baking pedigree; he understands quality. When he joined the team in late October 2022, I gave him the old recipe box and said, here’s your oven.” Ernesto created his starter, and by the next morning, the retail shop’s racks were stacked with baguettes, fougasse, seeded rye, Italian, sourdough, pumpernickel, cranberry walnut and olive breads.
Dan grew up in the food business. His family ran Dowe’s Market located on Utica’s Columbia Square, and in high school, he worked at the Gold Medal Dairy, renowned for high-quality Italian cheese products. Although Dan went on to earn his law degree from Fordham University (where he met his wife, Janet, who is also involved with the business behind the scenes), he never lost his fascination with the industry, later serving as chair of the Specialty Foods Association and helping to oversee two of the largest specialty foods shows in the country. That passion for all things delicious led Dan to purchase the Artisanal Premium Cheese company in 2007. Founded in 1993 by chef Terrance Brennan of Manhattan’s Picholine restaurant, Artisanal Premium Cheese sources the finest handcrafted cheeses from Europe and the United States and ages them to perfection in their cheese cave.
“All of our cheeses fall into four categories: mild, medium, bold or strong,” Dan explains. That revelation inspired Dan to create the Artisanal Cheese Clock,® which helps consumers pair beverages with various cheese styles. Milder cheeses pair best with lighter white wines, pilsners and lagers; stronger cheese complements more boldly flavored red wines, ales or stouts. “My goal is to demystify cheese and wine,” he states matter-of-factly. “Removing the guesswork enhances the pleasure of the cheese and wine experience and allows anyone to easily select cheeses based on this progression from mild to strong, just like cheese is served in the finest dining rooms.”
Dan moved Artisanal Premium Cheese from Manhattan to the Hemstrought’s facility in October 2019. “I love New York City, but running a food enterprise there is no picnic. With all this space, why not operate the cheese business here? It’s easier to get products into and ship out of Utica. We can now carefully pack all the elements of a charcuterie board, including our flash-frozen, par-baked breads and cured meats, with our cheese collection boxes and ship directly from here.” Local patrons hungry for world-class cheese can stop by Hemstrought’s retail shop and select from a rotation of more than 20 varieties in the refrigerated case. Thanks to online shopping and direct shipping, cheese lovers farther afield can order carefully curated themed collections, beautifully packaged in a handsome round wooden box made in France. Each box comes with fromager tasting notes, display tags and pairing suggestions. In the fall 2022, Artisanal Premium Cheese partnered with Omaha Steaks and became the company’s exclusive cheese purveyor.
Halfmoons, fry cakes, cinnamon buns and butter cookies. Old-world European breads and premium cheeses. Whether you access these goodies in person or online, you’ll be supporting a beloved century-old business that continues to evolve, thanks to a Utica man who loves food and his hometown.
Hemstrought’s Bakery is located at 900 Oswego St., Utica. Hemstroughts.com
