Mabel's Bakery

Lorraine Hawley grew up on a farm where she learned to bake many of the delicious, fresh items she sells at her Roncesvalles storefront, Mabel’s Bakery and Specialty Foods. The smell of fresh baked goods wafts all around you as soon as you walk through the door, making it hard to resist picking up a still-warm loaf of bread, a flakey croissant, or a gooey cinnamon bun topped with cream cheese icing.

“I always loved baking and cooking and I saw a need in this neighbourhood. There was more of a patisserie, a high-end French bakery, but there weren’t any home-style bakeries,” says Lorraine.

Although the farm is where she initially learned her craft, a baking course at George Brown College in Toronto, along with a business class, sealed the deal on starting her own shop. “I love checking off the box that you’ve accomplished something right then,” says Lorraine. “The daily sense of accomplishment in baking. Everyday something is done.”

A far cry from her former life in telecommunications, Lorraine puts so much of herself into her business, and it’s a difference you can taste.