Best Bakery in Exeter, NH: Rate the Pastry

The best bakery in Exeter depends on what you came for: a loaf of bread, a morning pastry or a cake for a celebration. Compare the town's bakers fairly, answer the Best in town bakery question in the Mosey app and leave a rating that helps the next person.

A small seacoast town like Exeter often has more good bakers than its size suggests.

That is partly because bakers do well in places with loyal regulars. People buy bread every week, and a baker who gets it right builds a following fast. Ask a resident which bakery they pass on the way to work, and you will usually get a name and a reason.

Buy something small at each. Compare a muffin, a scone and a slice of loaf cake across three counters, and you will learn each baker's hand.

How do you find the best bakery in Exeter?

Split the question in three. Bread is one skill, pastry is another, and cake a third. A bakery that excels at one may be average at the others. Try the same item at each: a plain croissant for pastry, a country loaf for bread, a simple slice of cake.

Visit early. The best items sell out by ten.

Take cash for small purchases in case a reader is slow, and bring a bag for a loaf. A paper sack is fine for a short walk, but a cloth bag keeps bread from squashing in a backpack. If you plan to travel, ask the baker how to store the loaf.

What are Exeter NH bakeries like?

Small, personal and usually owner-run. Many have a few tables, a display case and a counter where the baker or a family member serves. Some roast their own coffee or sell local jam. Others focus on a single specialty, such as sourdough or Danish.

Hours are short. Some close by early afternoon and take a day or two off, so check before you walk over.

Holidays are the exception: before Thanksgiving and Christmas, bakeries take orders for pies and breads and stay open late. Order early.

Where do you find Exeter bread and pastry?

In the center, a short walk from Water Street. Bread and pastry are sold in bakeries, cafes and a few markets. A country loaf is the usual bread order, and a croissant or a morning bun the usual pastry. Buy bread in the morning, when it is warm, and eat it the same day.

Ask the staff what came out of the oven last. They know.

If you buy a country loaf, take it home and taste it twice: once fresh, once toasted the next day. A good loaf improves with a day. A rating note that says "even better toasted on day two" is the kind a stranger can use.

What is a morning pastry on Water Street worth?

More than a coffee alone. A pastry from a good bakery has a crisp crust, a tender center and a flavor that shows the baker's patience. On a cool morning, a warm pastry on a bench by the river is one of the small pleasures of the town.

The Swasey Parkway picnic page shows where to sit.

Can you order an Exeter cake for a celebration?

Many bakeries make cakes to order, and a few keep slices in the case. Order several days ahead for a birthday or a graduation, and ask about sizes, flavors and writing. Pick up the cake in person and carry it flat on the floor of the car.

If the cake is for a crowd, ask about slicing. A bakery can mark a cake into portions, which saves a nervous moment at the table. Also ask about candles, plates and a knife. Small details turn a purchase into a celebration.

For a graduation, see the parents weekend dinner page to plan the rest of the day.

What is the Best in town feature?

Best in town is a set of quick questions in the Mosey app, asked one at a time, about places near you: coffee, pizza, brunch, burgers, bakeries and more. You pick a place, give it stars, and every place you rate helps the next person find somewhere good. It suits small towns with few ratings, like Exeter.

The answers belong to the people who give them, so your rating counts.

How do you rate a pastry?

Stars for the place, then the dish: "plain croissant, crisp outside, buttery, layers clear". Add the time you went and whether it was warm. The Bakery tag helps the next person find the place by what it is. If friends shared the box, tag them and they can add their own rating of the same pastry.

A list called Exeter bakers lets you keep your comparison together.

Where next from the bakery?

The US food guides hold the rest of the country, and the Exeter restaurants guide covers the rest of the center.

Eating your way across New Hampshire? The Food in New Hampshire page links every town we cover.

Tomorrow morning, get the Mosey app, answer the bakery question for Exeter and rate the first pastry by the dish.