Left: Bonne Richards, owner of Bonne the Baker; Right: Gluten, dairy free, and plant based donut (Photos Courtesty of Bonne the Baker)
While working for Warner Brothers Records in the 1990s, Bonne Richards once recreated album covers from bands like Green Day and put them on cakes. Today, she’s channeling that same creativity into gluten-free baking, opening Bonne the Baker, a bakery and market in Nashua this spring.
“I always loved to cook,” she says, recalling how she brought treats to record label reps and kept a three-ring binder of music-themed cakes for musicians. “Even back then I’d cater parties and I really wanted to get into this professionally.”
Despite no formal training, Richards landed a pastry chef job with Michael Buckley of Michael Timothy’s Dining Group. “I was so nervous that he was never going to hire me,” Richards recalls. With cooking experience and a recommendation from a Warner Brothers colleague, she landed the job.
She later spent 12 years at Sunnycrest Farm in Londonderry and returned to Buckley’s bakery in Merrimack until last November. Along the way, she refined gluten-free recipes and built a following.
“When I was at the farm growing the bakery, there was such a demand and I started doing muffins,” she says, adding she discovered early on that gluten-free baking is a $45 billion industry. “People were driving from everywhere to get them.”
Richard’s recipes have come through extensive experimentation, but she finally “cracked the code” using plant-based eggs and other ingredients. “When I started, I might as well have dumped gluten-free flour out of the box and just eaten the box,”
she jokes.
Her products, which include mini donuts, muffins, cinnamon rolls, crumb bars, cookies, and seasonal treats, are sold at several local shops and farmstands. “It’s very rewarding. Some people say ‘I haven’t had a donut in twenty years,’ and to little kids who want cupcakes but can’t eat flour, I say, ‘I got you covered,’” she says.
The new Amherst Street location, supported by a small business loan and the city of Nashua, will serve a variety of baked goods as well as fresh meals made with locally sourced ingredients.
“This is a dream of mine. I love being with people and I hope to eventually hire a couple of people,” Richards says. “Right now, it’s just me and my daughter Chloe who helps part time. She’s a fantastic chef.” For more information, visit facebook.com/bonnethebaker.