You’ll find their baked goods on the shelves of grocery stores all over West Michigan, and at the flagship bakery store located on Leonard Street in Grand Rapids. Since 1905, Arnie’s Bakery has been bringing sweet treats to customers throughout West Michigan. The Fahlen family has been working for three generations in the baking business, and while Arnie’s is still the main business, a new concept is about to be introduced.
We recently talked with brothers Stefan and Arne Fahlen II about a special coffee cake that Arnie’s Bakery makes, that would be a great treat on a chilly fall morning. Stefan is the director of operations for Arnie’s Bakery, while Arne is the director of bakery operations for the company.
Arnie’s Bakery’s Caramel Pecan Danish Coffee Cake is our pick for Sweet Treat of the Week, a series highlighting people and products from around Michigan who are using Pioneer Sugar in their creations.
“The Caramel Pecan Danish Coffee Cake is a speciality favorite in the fall,” Arne Fahlen said. He and his brother Stefan Fahlen are the third generation of the family to be involved in the business.
Check out our interview with the brothers below, where we talk about why sometimes time is more important than talent when baking, what is a laminated dough, and the new concept that will be transforming some Arnie’s locations.
You can find the Caramel Pecan Danish Coffee Cake at grocery stores around West Michigan.Courtesy Photo, used with permission.
This coffee cake is a danish style one, which means that it is made with a laminated dough. What this means is that it is a super buttery, extra flakey treat. Laminating dough involves folding butter into the dough several times to create thin layers of dough and flour. If you follow the process correctly, you’ll end up with 144 layers in your dough. When you bake your creation, the steam released from the dough and the butter will puff up each layer and create the delicate, flakey pastry of your dreams.
Time is important when working with a laminated dough. “It takes 24 hours to make the product,” Arne said. “We make the danish dough on day one, we laminate it, we rest it in our cooler overnight, and we start running it down our pastry production line the next day, where we fold in the soft cinnamon filling, add the gooey butter topping, and the pecans. From there, we proof and bake it. And then we go to glazing it, and drizzling the caramel icing over the top. Once that is all set, we go to packaging it later that afternoon.”
Arnie's Bakery supplies West Michigan grocery stores with fresh baked goods from their Leonard Street production facility.
The Fahlen family has a long baking history. Arne Fahlen immigrated from Sweden in 1952, after attending pastry school in Switzerland. He partnered with the long established Buttercup Bakery when he relocated to West Michigan, and they consolidated the business under the Arnie’s name in the 1980′s. His sons Erik, James and Richard took over the operation, while the elder Arne continued to bake until he passed away in 2014. Now, Arne’s grandson’s Stefan and Arne are involved, and about to make some big changes to the Arnie’s brand.
“We created a new concept called Beer City Bread Company,” Stefan said. If you’ve driven by the Arnie’s location on East Beltline in Grand Rapids, you may have noticed the change already. This new concept features not just 48 taps of beer, but also on using beer in their artisan bread, pizza crust, and many of the dishes on the menu. Partnering with Perrin Brewing Company, they’ll be baking up breads that marry natural European sourdough starters with flavorful ales and lagers, to create a soft crumb with full flavor. You’ll also be able to buy Beer City Bread at Meijer stores throughout the area.
“Our pizza is one thing that’s really going to be fantastic,” Stefan said. “We use Perrin Gold in it, and we don’t use any artificial yeast in it, we use all natural leaveners and starters to age it, to make it where the dough has really good flavor as well.”
Innovation and change coming from the next generation, who while taking Arnie’s into the future with new ideas and energy, still respect the history from which they came from. With solid baking skills through three generations, Arnie’s Bakery continues to be a favorite in West Michigan, while Beer City Bread is about to make it’s entrance onto the dining scene throughout Grand Rapids.
A line up of pizzas from Beer City Bread Company. This is the new concept that Arnie's Bakery is introducing in West Michigan this fall.Courtesy Photo, used with permission.
Arnie’s Bakery & Restaurant
815 Leonard St NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49504
(616) 458-2253
You can also find the coffee cake at Meijer Stores, Spartan Stores and Horrocks Market.
Beer City Bread (these locations will be re-opening under this brand soon)
722 Leonard St NW, Grand Rapids
777 54th St SW, Wyoming
2650 E Beltline SW, Grand Rapids
34 S Squires St, Rockford
A slice of coffee cake from Arnie's Bakery.Courtesy Photo, used with permission.
More Sweet Treat of the Week stories:
Cream & Sugar Ice Cream Company
How these Good Cookies came to be
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