Aspen Brunner was just 16 years old when she started a sourdough baking business.
When you’re 16 and home-schooled, some of your time is flexible, Brunner said. She used that flexibility to start her home-based micro bakery, The Rustic Oven. She started baking sourdough bread in her mother’s kitchen in Cecil, using her great-grandmother’s Hoosier cabinet.
Brunner sold her breads at a vegetable stand on the family property and through her Facebook page.
“I was able to do that, until I needed to make more than 20 loaves to sell,” she said.
Brunner noted that at the Shawano Farmer’s Market in July last year, she sold out her sourdough breads within the first two hours, because she didn’t have the capacity to make the number of loaves needed.
“Then I invested in a countertop oven and an actual baking set-up,” she said.
Hard work, dedication and the new oven increased what Brunner could offer for sale.
“I don’t think my customers know that it actually takes 48 hours, start to finish, to bake one loaf,” Brunner said.
She went on to explain how hard it was to start her micro-bakery, and that there is a lot of work behind the scenes.
After her 18th birthday on March 31, she moved out of her mother’s home to a place near Seymour with her boyfriend, Tommy Diemel. Then she graduated from high school.
The Rustic Oven is now a thriving business in the Shawano area, and Brunner is baking sourdough loaves and other products in day-long baking sessions every Monday in the Gourmet Café at Thornberry Cottage’s kitchen, 130 S. Main St., Shawano.
“Our customers asked for a softer bread than the ciabatta we used from Fannita’s (in downtown Shawano),” said Suzette Hackl-Kroll, Thornberry Cottage owner. Then Brunner “brought over her focaccia, and it was wonderful.” This allows the Gourmet Café to offer two bread options on its menu, as requested by customers, she said.
Hackl-Kroll worked out the opportunity for Brunner to bake in the Gourmet Café’s kitchen.
“We knew it would be awesome for her and great for us,” Hackl-Kroll said.
“This commercial kitchen fits me wonderfully,” Brunner said. “It has my 6-foot workbench, my three-compartment sink, and all the little tools that I need.”
Brunner said that her rent of the workspace includes the commercial oven and basement storage.
“I really like to bake. A storefront wasn’t what I was looking for. I love to be right in my kitchen,” she said.
Brunner has almost 900 followers on Facebook and 80 followers on Instagram, fueled by her love of baking.
Brunner has offered specialty flavors of sourdough breads in the recent past, such as cilantro and roasted onion, sun-dried tomato pesto, garlic parmesan and spinach and artichoke. Flavors change weekly, with traditional sourdough a standard offering.
In the past years, she’s partnered with local companies to sell her sourdough products during Shawano events, such as with Berkshire Hathaway in Shawano for Downtown Ladies Day and for Small Business Saturday. She was a vendor at the March 22 Shawano Flavorfest and has done pop-ups at the Stock Market in Shawano.
Brunner’s Facebook page has an online link for customers to order sourdough products and merchandise. Online orders must be placed by Wednesday for pickup on the following Tuesday. The pick-up location is the Gourmet Café at Thornberry Cottage in downtown Shawano.
There is also a spot in the Gourmet Café to place orders in person for pickup there, with the same deadline.
Ending her summertime appearance at the Shawano Farmers Market gives Brunner the chance to increase her weekly production numbers and make her loaves more readily available.
She recently partnered with Finally Fresh, a new produce stand at 1500 E. Green Bay St. in Shawano, and drops off bread for sale there weekly. “After my first delivery there, they practically sold out the same day,” Brunner said.
She’s pursuing other restaurants and shops to sell or use her products.
Her breads are also for sale at The Stock Market, 103 S. Main St., Shawano.
“She (Brunner) has been a good customer of ours, coming in to buy tea, basalmics and oils,” said Chelsea Gilling, owner of the Stock Market. “She started using the balsamics and oils in her breads.
“During the winter months, when the Shawano Farmers Market was over, she asked if she could set up a little pop-up shop here a couple times a month. Her delicious bread partners perfectly with our basalmics and oils. It was a win-win.”
Brunner’s loaves will be sold at the Stock Market starting after Labor Day.
“She will continue to use our products, and we’ll continue to partner that way,” said Abby Wallrich, another Stock Market owner. “We’ll use her bread to dip in the oils and basalmics for customers to sample.”
Brunner will drop off loaves for retail sale every Thursday at The Stock Market.
“I feel that sourdough is here to stay,” Brunner said. “Pre-packaged food is really not what sustains our bodies.”
She plans to dedicate more time to learning more about the sourdough process and commercial baking.
To do so, Brunner will be working with Voyageurs Bakehouse in Green Bay to hone her craft.
“They offered me the opportunity to go into their 10,000-square-foot production kitchen,” she said.
Brunner will learn their processes and models and the business end of the operation, spending two days a week there.
“Going forward, our sourdough will be more available around town in Shawano. I will be pursuing my expertise in sourdough and just gaining more experience in a wholesale and large-scale kitchen,” Brunner wrote on her Facebook page.
