Opening Day at Camden Yards is not an event to be taken lightly in Baltimore City. If you happen to be stuck at work (like me), don’t expect emails in your inbox or the phone to ring, it just won’t happen—or at least not often.
This past Friday was Opening Day and even the local bakeries get into the spirit. Fenwick Bakery never misses a chance to celebrate our city’s sporting events, so on Friday they converted their Fedora (a cupcake baked without a liner, flipped upside down, and then covered in a chocolate shell whose shape mimics its namesake) into an Orioles’ Rally Cap:
(Photo from Fenwick Bakery’s Facebook Page. No harm or infringement intended.)
Fenwick Bakery is a true Baltimore bakery (and although their address says Parkville they are still within city limits). According to them, their “love story” began when the two original owners married in 1913 and opened a bakery shortly after (originally named Uebersax Bakery). A century later, it has only had three different owners and still uses original recipes.
When you first walk in, you are immediately struck by the smell of fresh doughnuts. If that’s not enough to put a smile on your face, the two displays filled with baked goods that make up most of their small storefront surely will. But don’t expect any fancy decor or over the top greetings. Fenwick Bakery is a no-frills bakery that only promises to produce fresh, tasty treats. The women behind the counter won’t greet you with an over-the-top smile and perky “hello,” but they will ask you what they can get for you and put your order together quickly. If you are lucky, you might even get called “hon” or “babe.”
Unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to pick up their recent Orioles’ Rally Cap Fedoras, but it did remind us that we have been bad bloggers and haven’t shared ANY of the treats we’ve enjoyed from Fenwick Bakery, including the Fedora.
(Their classic Fedora and a Black Bottom cupcake we tried on our first visit)
When we tried the Fedora it had the perfect, rich, moist chocolate cake. The Black Bottom cupcake was the same, and might have been the best Black Bottom I’ve ever eaten.
On our first visit they didn’t have any regular cupcakes, but it wasn’t long after that I decided I NEEDED to try their doughnuts. While there, I saw they had made special Ravens cupcakes for the playoff games (yes that was about 3 months ago…did I mention I’ve been a bad blogger?).
Words can’t describe how unbelievably amazing their doughnuts are. They don’t have a ton of flashy flavors like Dunkin Donuts or Fractured Prune, but they are melt in your mouth amazing.
After having a great experience with the Fedora, Black Bottoms, and doughnuts, I had high expectations for their cupcakes. Unfortunately, they didn’t live up to my hopes. The cake was dry and the frosting tasted different than that of the oh-so-wonderful frosting on their doughnuts. I was bummed.
I don’t think I’d get their cupcakes again (never say “never” though, right?), but this down-to-earth bakery still has a lot to offer. And there is no way I can stay away from those crazy-good doughnuts for very long.
– Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Stacy (Baltimore, MD)
Cupcake Crusaders 
Stacy, I am sorry if our cupcake did not live up to your expectations, and surprised that the icing was different, as we do use the same icing for doughnuts, cakes and cupcakes…in fact the chocolate in which the fedoras are dipped is the same chocolate, although warmed up in a double-boiler. I hope you will give us another try sometime, as we pride ourselves on quality and consistency, and to fall short on either attribute is an item of some dismay to myself, and the organization…
Hi Michael! Thank you so much for reading our review and responding! It always impresses us when the owners of bakeries get in touch with us because it really shows how much they care about what they do and the products they produce. We will certainly continue coming to Fenwick Bakery. There is something about the atmosphere I just love, and those doughnuts… wow. That is strange that the frosting wasn’t as good. As we know with baking, while it might not happen often, sometimes there can be a batch that might not be quite as good as the rest. We will definitely give your cupcakes a try again if we see them while picking up doughnuts, black bottoms, and fedoras and update our review accordingly. Thanks again for responding to this review!
You are welcome, and thanks for your patronage! I do try to keep up with what is said about Fenwick Bakery, and I must say very occasionally things may get by our usual high standards, so we do appreciate ALL reviews; to operate only on positive feedback would be foolish. Thank you for your kind words concerning our products, and I hope I can correct whatever flaw may have shown itself in our yellow cupcake!
Just one other mention, Stacy… We are located within the city limits of Baltimore (I have the ridiculous property tax bill to prove it)! The city line is about 3 blocks north of us on Harford Road….
Hi Michael! I didn’t realize that there were Parkville addresses still within the city limits, so I updated our above review to correct that. Thanks!