Bread Box Bakery and Cafe Opens

I used to think I could live without bread, preferring to “spend” those calories on dessert.

That was until I met Jason Guo and tasted his amazing sweet and savory breads.

Guo is the owner of the new in the Tilghman Square Shopping Center in South Whitehall. He had me at the first bite of his fresh-baked “coco butter cream.” 

Imagine sinking your teeth into a mound of the softest bread on earth, decorated with a ripple of rich, smooth cream.  OMG!

“Try the green tea swirl,“ he urged, adding that the round loaf was coffee bread filled with an espresso cheese, crushed coffee and a hint of  green tea.

He didn’t have to tell me twice.  Consider it coffee ice cream in a bread.

Also on the sample tray was a slice labeled “red bean.“  Thinking the bread might taste like Mexican refried beans, I passed on it until an employee told me the beans are part of a filling sweetened with honey. Oh my! Really yummy.

I purchased an oval walnut bread and a coco butter cream to share with coworkers, then came back the next day to sample some savory varieties: ham and bacon parmesan with almonds strewn on top, a  mozzarella and hot ham,  and a no-water-added parmesan loaf -- each $1.50.

And I came back the day after that -- when I should have been weighing in at Weight Watchers -- to order a “Boursin Beef” Panini, featuring roast beef, arugula, sweet onion and boursin cheese on sourdough, for my mother-in-law.  Of course I had to treat her to a couple soft, sweet breads as well: one filled with a Hokkaido cream and cranberry paste, another with a half of a peach and honey.

I can’t seem to stop until I’ve sampled them all…at least once.

When asked how he managed to make his breads so soft, Guo told me that one of his secrets is to use a lot of high-gluten flour.  Although some folks are allergic to this wheat protein, it apparently allows Guo to mix his bread longer, allowing for such a soft texture.   The cream fillings, on the other hand, are beaten slowly, he said, to avoid filling them with air.

Guo learned his master bread-baking craft in China but has come up with several of his own recipes and fillings for a one-of-a-kind-bread-savoring experience.  His loaves are mostly round, not as big as a traditional grocery or bakery store bread but bigger than a large bagel and so much more enjoyable.

The sweet breads are healthier than a donut, Guo notes, and tastier than a bagel or Danish.

Also on the menu are salads, other Panini, wonderful full-bodied coffees, gourmet tea, hot chocolate and even Italian sodas and creamosas (Italian soda with whipped cream).  I’m anxious to try the strawberry and avocado salad with spinach, bacon, pecans and crumbled blue cheese in a Dijon vinaigrette dressing( $5.89), and the sun-dried tomato and goat cheese Panini ($5.69).

And, of course, I have yet to try these and other flavors in his breads: sweet yam, chocolate cherry, chocolate cappuccino, sweet custard.

Guo’s long-anticipated grand opening of his Bread Box Bakery is today, June 10.  His breads should come with a warning: habit-forming. I dare you to eat just one.

Bread Box Bakery & Café

4620 Broadway

South Whitehall

610-391-0101

Hours: Mon - Sat, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sun, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.