“This has been my dream for such a long time, but it’s all happened pretty fast,” admits Hanna Rybolt, the namesake founder of Pastries by Hanna. “We’re making so many pies, breads, and doughnuts now. We’ve really been in it!” That said, the busyness of running her business will only likely increase, heading toward Rosh Hashanah and peak pie season. “I’ll be baking lots of challah bread for Guido’s in October and lots of pies from here on out, including for Windy Hill Farm using their apples,” she says.
Rybolt was baking out of her home and initially did occasional pop-ups to test the market. A connection with Rebecca and Lucas of ILSE Coffee in Canaan, Conn., led to “doing more pop-ups” (all of which sold out incredibly quickly) and eventually making pastries for their shop. It also led her to an expanded workspace. “Rebecca told me, ‘I’m pretty sure there’s a kitchen down there,’ referring to the old theater next door. Although it hadn’t been used in 10 years, it had an oven and a walk-in refrigerator, and I outfitted everything else,” she explains.
It was in February 2024 that Rybolt officially launched her bakery operation, prepping and baking in the kitchen below The Colonial Theatre at 27 Railroad Street in Canaan (note: it’s not a retail shop!). The theatre posted an announcement on its Facebook page that included this introduction: “Hi! I’m Hanna, owner of Pastries by Hanna. I strive to make delicious cakes and pastries with high-quality, local-when-possible ingredients. I recently moved to the area from Boston, and am so excited for the opportunity to grow and expand my business here in Canaan. Whether you need pies, cookies, or breakfast pastries for an event, I can help!”
Her absolute dream, however, was to get into the Great Barrington Farmer’s Market. “I love that market!” So she filled out an application and was invited to a vendor’s potluck, which helped her establish a connection, and started selling her pastries at the market soon after. “People welcomed me with open arms. There’s been a lot of excitement that we’re here,” she shares, adding that most Saturdays, she sells out before noon. “The same people come every week, and I know what they’re going to order, from the two-year-old who loves the hibiscus lime doughnut to the sugar cookie fans. I try to make sure there’s something left when they come.”
She says some of her best customers are other market vendors who provide feedback and knowledge of the community. Custom orders are another vital source of business, thanks to market and customer recommendations. “I’ve done custom orders for baby showers and later gotten to know the babies as they come {with their parents] to the market for doughnuts,” she shares.
Expanding organically
“The pop-up business and farmer’s market worked very well for me, and over time grew into a wholesale business as well. People loved my doughnuts and began seeking them out since doughnuts are pretty rare in this area,” she says, adding, “Pretty much everything has been by word of mouth. Everyone knows everyone in the local restaurant industry. I did a private party with Julie and Steve Browning of No Comply back in May, and the host talked highly of me to Maddie Austin and Peter Chapin at Mill River General Store.” They now carry her pastries on weekends—also usually sold out by noon.
Instagram has been helpful, too, giving her the chance to connect with the community, show them her products, and post details about monthly specials and pop-up events. “I’ve scraped this together myself and am doing as much as I can on my own, engaging with people on a constant basis,” she acknowledges. No Comply (Great Barrington) started carrying her carrot cake and mini pies served with High Lawn ice cream (the perfect dessert for two), and The Elm (Great Barrington) added her pies to their menu, too. “I now wholesale to several different local businesses. Guido’s, Mill River General Store, and No Comply are the big three, but I also supply to ILSE Coffee, Best Damn Espresso, Hilltown Hot Pies, and The Elm,” she notes. Her pastries have grown so popular she filled orders for 100-plus pies over Labor Day weekend!
Starting from scratch
Rybolt developed an interest in baking when she was very young. Yes, she had an Easy Bake oven, like many young children, but she credits her aunt with igniting her passion. “Aunt Mimi was very patient with us. There were 20 cousins on my mom’s side, and starting with easy muffin mixes when we were little, she always let us help her in the kitchen,” Rybolt recalls, noting that her aunt died in 2021—and that she, too, had always wanted to have a baking business.
Although Rybolt was born in New Hampshire and grew up in Palm Beach Gardens (South Florida), her mom had family roots in Merrimack Valley, Mass. After graduating from high school, Rybolt attended Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she was a part of the Baking and Pastry Arts program. Working in back and front of house at various local restaurants during school gave her valuable experience and insights into the restaurant business, as did working as a kitchen manager in a restaurant on the North Shore of Boston during COVID. Rybolt returned to baking in 2021 as the pastry sous chef for Mamaleh’s Deli in Cambridge. “We had a team of five and made 1,000 bagels a day, along with hand pies and challah bread,” she says. “It was amazing!”
The challenge of a one-woman show
What is it like to start a business requiring you to work long hours alone (often at night)? And to experience success so quickly, it’s hard to keep up? In a word, challenging. “Keeping up with the back-end administrative tasks (answering emails, settling invoices, and maintaining a steady social media presence) has been the hardest challenge. “I needed to hire someone six weeks ago, but I wanted to see how the seasonal flow worked first,” she confides. “There’s a lot of learning on the fly. I use Quickbooks and Square, and both have been great, along with having people pay by credit card.”
That Rybolt’s fiancé, Corey Burns, launched CMB Contracting (in Canaan) in 2019 has also proved helpful. “We are in the same mode, starting our businesses, so we give each other advice and bounce ideas around a lot,” she says.
The hours can easily be 70 to 80 hours per week, including some 16-hour days—and she likes making a variety of items (sometimes up to 20 different types of pastries in a day), recognizing that she needs to rein that number in. Like most bakers, she works irregular hours, starting most Wednesdays and Thursdays between 5 and 7 a.m. and Fridays at 3:30 a.m. On weekends, she works until 5:30 p.m. on Friday afternoons, takes a “catnap” until 11 p.m., and then works through the end of the farmer’s market each Saturday afternoon. “It’s a pretty crazy schedule, but I love what I’m doing,” she smiles.
Is it lonely? It was definitely an adjustment at first, she allows, after working on teams with lots of people pitching in previously, but for now, the joy of baking is bringing her great satisfaction. “I listen to a lot of podcasts, Harry Potter audio books, and music.”
Developing recipes through steady practice
Where do the recipes originate? To answer, she holds up a worn black writing journal filled with all the recipes she’s developed and tried over the years. Opening it, she shows me that it’s just a lot of numbers and ingredients, no instructions—the rest is in her head. For example, her chai chess pie is an update of an old southern recipe with an egg-based custard thickened with cornmeal. She developed most of her signature brioche doughnut recipes through experimentation. “I’ve tried different flours and types of yeast, but I rely on fresh yeast sold as a solid block,” she points out.
No matter the recipe, Rybolt strives to make all products with locally grown products and sell them through community businesses. She sources many ingredients through Marty’s Local in Deerfield, which works directly with farms and producers to create a robust regional food system. But she is quick to qualify that “counting nickels” actually applies: “I have to use things that are cheaper where it matters less and splurge on other things to make this work,” she states.
“It’s been exciting to source and support local businesses (like High Lawn Dairy in Lenox and Klein’s Kill Fruit Farm in Germantown, N.Y.), and it’s helping me get to know the area,” she relays. “When those businesses repost my posts on their sites, it helps spread the word.”
After growing up in South Florida, where the dry, hot summers made it hard to find anything locally grown, she says she “gets giddy thinking about the change of seasons, especially heading into fall baking with so many flavors I love.”
“Overall, it’s has been my dream experience. I feel a part of the community here. Boston was too big—it was hard to break through and keep up with the pace of everything. Here people know what they want. I’ll get an email from someone who tasted my chocolate tahini cookies wanting to order four dozen for a party and then get lots more orders from people who attended the party,” she shares.
When she’s not in the Berkshires, she loves spending time in York, Maine, where her family has been visiting for years. “There it’s important to support the local fishing industry that supplies fish to all of the restaurants. You can’t cut corners if you want to make sure they’re going to be there the next year,” she says. “In the same way, we’re all in it together here in the Berkshires. The pride of ownership and commitment to the local businesses and community are all important.”
What’s her favorite pastry to bake? “I love making scones,” she replies. “They’re so versatile. You can make them sweet or savory, so I can create everything from a maple-roasted pear with cardamon scone to a butternut squash and sage or Gruyère with carmelized onion scone.”
Her favorite sweet to eat? “Hands down, my sour cream sugar cookies,” she grins. “They’re dense and creamy but also fluffy. They’re just a really solid cookie.”
Is there a five-year plan? “Maybe adding a storefront eventually,” she says, “but I’m getting married next year, so the most important goal is to keep growing gradually and build something sustainable.”
