A baker’s quest for the joy of baking

Opening a bakery was a gamble for Cynthia Lamb. Even though she has been baking since she was a little girl, she had never worked in a professional bakery.

“I’m maybe a little insane,” Lamb said.

On a cloudy Wednesday afternoon, Lamb was preparing for the weekend. She took out a big block of chocolate and started chopping it into small shards for her chocolate, walnut and oat cookie, a popular item at her bakery, Moonrise Bakehouse.

Tucked away at 906 40th Street and Ninth Avenue, Moonrise Bakehouse is an artisanal bakery in the Sunset Park neighborhood. Since opening in 2019, it has become a local favorite and a destination for visitors from outside the area.

Lamb started baking bread for herself and her family when she lived on the Lower East Side. After moving to Sunset Park, she began to take breadmaking more seriously. In 2017, she started a bread share at the Sunset Park CSA. The operation soon outgrew her kitchen. At one point, she had to borrow space in her neighbor’s refrigerator for storage.

After three years of searching, Lamb found her current space, a former photography studio. The transition from home baker to shop owner came with a steep learning curve. Lamb soon realized that setting up a bakery was more challenging than she anticipated.

The space is just over 100 square feet. By rearranging the layout and building some of her own furniture, Lamb managed to fit in two ovens, mixers, refrigerators, grain storage, a work surface, display shelves and a tiny area for customers. When she hired part-time workers, she adapted the space for them while navigating a maze of city regulations and codes.

But she enjoys the challenges. Finding dollies on a car website for wheat storage? Check. Building an adjustable work surface using an industrial workbench and butcher block? Check.

“I love figuring things out,” Lamb said. “That’s a huge part of the joy of having your own shop. This is not something you can learn from working at other bakeries.”

Having her own shop gives her the creative freedom to experiment.

“One great thing about having my own shop is that I’m not constrained by just the list of things that another bakery would make,” Lamb said.

Growing up with hearty Finnish rye bread, Lamb incorporates whole-wheat flour and ancient grains into her baking. She sources a variety of grains and mills them in-store.

“I bought einkorn flour and I had no idea how to use it,” Lamb said. “So, I found someone who made a loaf of bread. I liked the look of the loaf. And I tried.”

At Moonrise, she tries to put whole grains into everything. When she sees a recipe, she tests it and tries to substitute white flour with whole wheat. Her signature cookie is made with 50% whole wheat.

As an owner, she faces the challenge of finding a balance between making what she likes and what customers want. It is not always easy, but one pastry emerged from the challenge successfully: the cardamom bun, a mini, sweet rendition of her favorite childhood treat, Finnish cardamom bread.

“I grew up with that and I didn’t even know what cardamom was, but the smell of coffee and cardamom is the smell of my grandma’s kitchen,” Lamb said.

Another unexpected joy comes from her relationship with customers.

“With the CSA, I didn’t really get to meet people that I delivered bread to,” Lamb said. “But here, I get direct feedback and that is joyful. I didn’t realize how rewarding it would be to have such a relationship with customers. I’ve got to see babies from the time they’re born until they’re little kids running around. They begin to feel like family.”

A bike accident two years ago forced Lamb to scale back operations from five days to weekends only, but she has since found her rhythm. She offers staples like country sourdough on Saturdays and specialty items on Sundays.

“Because everyone now fell in love with the bread, we are as busy in two days as we used to be in five,” Lamb said.

After she finished chopping chocolate, Lamb took out her sourdough starter. The starter is nearly 15 years old. It was time for its feeding before the weekend rush.