The "Back in the Day Bakery" has become an iconic food landmark in Savannah. Husband and wife team Griffith and Cheryl Day recently released their second cookbook, Back in the Day Bakery Made with Love. This cookbook comes on the heels of the pair's nomination for Outstanding Baker for the 2015 James Beard Awards. While they didn't win the award, Griffith and Cheryl are proud to be part of the "bake from scratch" revolution. Here they talk about the newest cookbook and their passion for baking.
Credit: Alexa Lampasona
Credit: Alexa Lampasona
* You can meet Cheryl and Griffith Day in person at H. Harper Station tonight at 7 p.m. The launch party features tastings of recipes from the cookbook along with a book signing and cocktails. Purchase your tickets here.
The Back in the Day Bakery: Made with Love cookbook is about you living a handmade life. What does that mean?
Cheryl: We asked fans what they wanted to see in our next cookbook and they wanted to see more about creating a vintage lifestyle. At the end of every chapter we have "make it yourself" tutorial that includes projects like our marshmallow chandelier, which became famous in our bakery.
The illustrations are beautiful. Are they hand-drawn?
Cheryl: Yes, that was really important to us. When Griff and I were on the book tour for the first book, our friend Emily Isabella brought us an illustrated portrait of ourselves. We were so impressed that we wanted to incorporate her into this book. We wanted to book to have a homemade look to fit into the theme, and her illustrations fit into that perfectly.
What’s your hope for people who use this cookbook?
Cheryl: Baking is such a comforting thing to do and we wanted to make it approachable and fun. Its great for the novice, or even our friends who are pastry chefs enjoy the more challenging recipes. We really just want to pass on the heritage of baking from scratch. And we want to have a larger audience to teach.
What is that heritage?
Griff: We want to share our heritage recipes and pass them down by teaching the craft of scratch baking. We want to be a part of the renaissance of bakers who are trying to keep the art alive.
Why do you think people aren’t baking from scratch?
Cheryl: It's hard work. People want to do things fast, and making a croissant is not fast. Society got accustomed to grabbing pre-made food, but our craft isn't like that. It takes time. You have to have skilled and talented people that know how to bake in a bakery.
Back in the Day Bakery has been around for 13 years. How has business grown since your cookbooks?
Griff: We wanted to be a gathering place for the community, so we opened the bakery in a neighborhood called the Starland District. We were the first to open a business there. Back in the day (pun intended) our neighborhood was an old merchant circle that was centrally located between five neighborhoods, so it made sense.
Cheryl: Griff and I wanted to create a food landmark. Our bakery is in a part of town where people wouldn't necessarily know to go unless they read our cookbook, so we're glad to expose the community.
Your grandmother “baked with love.” What does that mean? How do you do that?
Griff: we like the idea of families baking together. It's a loving and nurturing thing. You're offering a part of yourself.
Cheryl: We like to preach that we followed our passion to do what we love rather than just being bakers.
What recipes have you been baking from the book?
Cheryl: I'm really into pies. We're self-taught bakers. For me, making a pie is more of a craft. In the summer, the tomato pie is a great savory treat. The blackberry apple pie is amazing, and it has lavender.
Griff: I grew up on chocolate chip cookies, it's my comfort food. We have the recipe in our other book. Another favorite is our star brownies- they are one of the most popular at the bakery.
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