Baking something new and heavenly in Pine Plains

PINE PLAINS — When a town needs a bakery and a baker needs a town, if they find each other, that could be called heavenly. In fact, that’s exactly what it is, and the new bakery in the town of Pine Plains is called something very close to that: Heaven’s Light Bakery and Café, featuring International Delights.

You can find it tucked behind the post office, at 19 Pilch Drive in what was formerly a Chinese restaurant. Upon entering, one first notes that it is mostly white — the fixtures, the marble-topped tables, the marble floor.

It is clean and light and filled with delicious-looking baked goods. There are still bright red Christmas decorations tastefully spread around the premises, but even those take second place behind the trays of decorated cupcakes. There is also a variety of muffins, several kinds of cookies, and zucchini bread.

Owner/baker Rev. Sarah Hakobian greets customers with a welcoming smile and a warm personality; she loves what she does and it shows in her baked goods and in her demeanor. “Baking makes me happy,” she said.

Coming from an Italian/Armenian background with good cooks on both sides, Hakobian said that becoming a baker was just a natural evolution. From both cultures she has a love of spices, and a devotion to good hosting.

A mother of five and an artist as well, decorating cakes, cookies and cupcakes was second nature to her and a boon to her youngsters growing up.

   She loves learning about different cultures, and has prepared authentic Native American food as well as Chinese, Iranian, Armenian and Italian dishes, and many others. She served baked treats to close to 1,000 people at a recent Halloween event, but almost any event brings out the baker in her.

Some of her specialty items include German chocolate mousse cake, red velvet cupcakes, lemon poppy muffins, chocolate brownies and gingerbread cookies. She also makes gata — a filled bread — baked doughnuts, and a variety of other cookies and pies.

   The cafe portion she is starting slowly, maybe with soup and salad at first, because she cooks and bakes everything from scratch using only wholesome and fresh foods. Hakobian hopes to provide the freshest food possible without breaking everyone’s budgets; she feels good food is like a good education, it should be accessible for everyone.

Having gotten the lease on the store in April, she has spent all the time between then and the Dec. 20 opening cleaning, accruing equipment and making plans. There were also myriad permits and certificates to be obtained.

Now, with that behind her, her energies can be directed toward the bakery and café: the actual cooking and baking. Hakobian sees real opportunity here, saying that everyone has been so welcoming and kind.

She thinks she’ll be happy in Pine Plains because the people, she said, are just great! One of the things she loves is the variety of goods she can make: Because everyone is different, everyone has their own favorites.

She’ll bake whatever is called for; if you need gluten-free, she’ll do it. Other restrictions or needs? She’ll happily bake whatever you need. If you have a recipe you want to try, give it to her and she’ll make it for you. And with the post office right next door, she will also ship, making it possible to surprise someone far away with baked goods.

She is a Facebook enthusiast, having recently posted tantalizing pictures of her baked goods, and telling her FB friends: “First week open at my new store Heaven’s Light Bakery and Cafe International Delights was amazing! I sold out of everything. Just wanted to share with my family and friends from around the world a video of what my new store looks like. I love it and thank you for all your love, support and friendship. My biggest seller was my famous zucchini bread and fresh gingerbread. God bless.”

She sold 40 loaves of zucchini bread. She also sold vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting, red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate frosting, and a wide variety of other baked specials.

Hakobian is an insurance agent, a family business, as her husband and father-in-law are also in insurance. She is closely affiliated with Millennial Kingdom Family School in Hyde Park, so education and child care are also close to her heart and have been for more than 20 years.

She home-schooled her children and discovered the need for the non-public school in the process. She is pastor of the Millennial Kingdom Family Church.

The hours at Hopefully Heaven’s Light Bakery and Café vary; so far, they are Monday and Wednesday 3 to 5 p.m., all other days 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed on Sunday.

But she goes in early to bake and clean, so you might be able to catch her even earlier; she said she’ll never turn a customer away.

Call 845-240-5948 for more information or check out Sarah Hakobian on Facebook.