SAVANNAH — Reminiscent of the customer contest that led to selecting Unforgettable as the name for her Savannah bakery, owner Belinda Baptiste recently took a vote for the tagline of her komparét Haitian cookie.
Should it be “Ginger in every bite”? What about “Unforgettable komparét”? Or maybe “It’s a classic”?
The ginger slogan ended up the winner, although I’d say that all three are apt descriptions for what has become the bestselling cookie since she added it to the menu a mere 18 months ago.
My first bite of Unforgettable Bakery and Café’s komparét, also spelled konparet, stopped me in my tracks. Chunks of crystalized ginger left my taste buds zinging. I broke off one morsel at a time, savoring the honeyed sweetness, the meaty coconut flakes, the warm spices that lingered everywhere in my mouth. The oversized round was dense, yet moist and chewy. Not crumbly whatsoever. Was it cookie, bread or cake? It held elements of each.
As I peppered Baptiste with questions about the komparét, her background and the bakery’s beginnings, each response started with “That’s a good story.”
It goes something like this: Marriage brought the Haitian native to Savannah in 2007. Two years later, her then-husband learned about a vacant storefront — formerly a bakery — on Savannah’s south side. He surprised Baptiste with news that he’d secured the space so she could open a bakery. That caught her off guard; she’d always enjoyed cooking, but didn’t have any training. “I didn’t know how to bake nothing,” recounted Baptiste. “I used to work in higher education. I never worked at a restaurant or bakery in my entire life.”
She paused in the storytelling to laugh, as if still in disbelief of the events that transpired 13 years ago.
Things got even more bizarre a week later when her husband told her he wanted a divorce. What’s more, the person who was going to be a partner in the bakery bowed out soon after.
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Yet, Baptiste went forward with the shop. “In my vocabulary, you never say, ‘I can’t do this,’” she said.
“Believe” reads the inspirational motto that sits atop the glass counter filled with tempting slices of triple chocolate, caramel, red velvet, Key lime, and strawberries and cream cake.
With trial and error and the assistance of a skilled cake decorator, among other pastry hands, Unforgettable Bakery and Café built a reputation for layer cakes with signature cream cheese icing, for six flavors of pound cakes now shipped nationwide, and cookies studded with chocolate chips or cranberries.
Savory dishes like black bean soup, gumbo, chicken salad and quiche added to the cafe side of the operation.
The turning point came in 2019, when, after having been prodded for some time by Johannah Coichy, the youngest of her three adult children, Baptiste finally began making baked goods that reflected her Haitian heritage.
Bon bon amidon and bon bon sirop came first. The former is a melt-in-your-mouth starch cookie, made with cornstarch. Bon bon sirop is a dense gingerbread-like cookie made with dark sugar cane syrup (the “sirop”) and spices, especially ginger.
Baptiste’s bon bon amidon cookies are gluten-free, while bon bon sirop cookies are vegan. Both still taste true to the name, which translates to “good good.”
In December 2020, Baptiste was included in a New York Times food story about Haitian Independence Day. Soon after the piece ran, a would-be customer walked into the shop and asked if she made komparét. He’d discovered the ginger-laced baked good during a visit to Jérémie, a town in southwest Haiti where the bread originated in the early 20th century and remains a specialty. Baptiste got to work on a recipe. Now, komparét sales surpass those of canonical cookies like oatmeal and chocolate chip.
“People love something different,” Baptiste said. Especially when it comes with a good story.
RECIPES
These cookie and bread recipes from Belinda Baptiste of Unforgettable Bakery and Café in Savannah are an homage to her native Haiti. Baptiste’s updated versions of these traditional baked goods are health-minded: Petit Haitian Baguette calls for avocado, sugar cane-sweetened bon bon sirop is vegan, and melt-in-your-mouth lemon cookie bon bon amidon is gluten-free.
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Komparét
Komparét, also spelled konparet, is a dense cake-like gingerbread. The prominence of ginger, subtle notes of coconut and mild sweetness have made this Unforgettable Bakery and Café's bestselling cookie. The bakery makes them as 4-inch rounds; for a smaller cookie, decrease the baking time slightly.
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Bon Bon Sirop
Bon bon sirop, which means “good good syrup” in French, is a type of Haitian baked good prepared with gros sirop (sugar cane syrup) and a blend of sweet spices, with a flavor reminiscent of gingerbread. The dough can be baked in a loaf pan and served by the slice or made into slightly dome-shaped cookies, as in this vegan version from Unforgettable Bakery.
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Bon Bon Amidon
Amidon means starch in French. Unforgettable Bakery owner Belinda Baptiste uses cornstarch for these finely textured gluten-free lemon tea cookies, but she has had equal success using yucca, tapioca and potato flour.
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Petit Haitian Baguette
Unforgettable Bakery owner Belinda Baptiste began offering baguettes at the outset of the pandemic when bread aisles were depleted, and flour was scarce. She puts her personal stamp on traditional pain haïtien with the use of avocado and coconut oil.
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