Galaxy Bakery offers elevated desserts
It’s natural to develop a sweet tooth every year during the holiday season, and Galaxy Bakery just off the Square is an easy remedy.
Owned by Georgetown’s Ike Thorpe, Galaxy Bakery opened in 2013 and offers cupcakes, cookies, pastries and coffee drinks. The show’s quaint dining area is the perfect place to read the newspaper while enjoying a pastry and a cup of coffee.
Mr. Thorpe’s dream of having his own bakery was passed down to him from his dad, who always talked about opening one up. Now, Mr. Thorpe has six kids and a large extended family who have all “taken their turn” working different roles at the store.
The pastry chefs start baking around 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. depending on how much prep they do the day before. Everything in the bakery is cooked fresh everyday.
Galaxy Bakery uses “real food” like butter, unbleached flour and chocolate chips to make their baked goods, Mr. Thorpe explained. He said he avoids practices used to create cheaper baked goods, which mix synthetic chocolate flavoring with food coloring, and use synthetic fats and shortening instead of butter.
“[The shortening] can turn it firm as hard as cement or soft as butter,” Mr. Thorpe said. “It’s extremely inexpensive to produce. If people knew how it was made, they would definitely think twice before consuming it.”
The baker’s Old Fashioned Hostess cupcake is their top selling flavor. On April Fools Day, Mr. Thorpe said have put actual Hostess snack cakes in the display case as a prank.
“It isn’t [actually] like a convenience store cupcake with mystery cream,” Mr. Thorpe said. “It’s real chocolate ganache and whipped cream.”
The ‘Ooh La La’ cupcake is the bakery’s second top selling item. The chocolatey cake is soaked in sweetened condensed milk to give it a decadent flavor; it is based on the popular “Better Than Sex” cake flavor. Although Galaxy Bakery is most known for their cupcakes, Mr. Thorpe said the Boston Cream Croissant is also a crowd pleaser.
“People love the cream filling,” Mr. Thorpe said. “There were people from France [who] told me that is the best cream [they’ve] ever had. It’s like a heavy cream custard.”
While most of the cupcake and pastry flavors on the menu remain the same, Galaxy Bakery does rotate the menu every couple of weeks. During the Christmas season, it will have gingerbread, egg nog and peppermint patty. For Thanksgiving, the bakery offers full-sized traditional pies like pumpkin, pecan and apple.