Brooklyn Bake Shop, Jerusalem purveyor of US Jewry desserts, shuts down

It was the end of an era on March 31 as the iconic Brooklyn Bake Shop in Jerusalem closed its doors for the last time.

The bakery operated for close to three decades and was beloved by American olim, tourists and gap-year and yeshiva students, who would flock to the legendary bakeshop, which operated for over 20 years in Geula and eight years in Mea She’arim.

However, operating the bakery alone was too much for the owner, who also served as the pâtissier, and he decided to retire. The customers served on the Friday before Shabbat Hagadol, the Shabbat before Passover, would be its last.

“After serving you for almost 30 years [with] ‘mesirut nefesh’ to bring you the highest level of kashrut and quality, it comes with great difficulty to announce the closing of The Brooklyn Bake Shop,” the owner wrote in a statement pinned to the outside of the store. “I ask with true sincerity not to be upset with me.”

Part of what made this bakery stand out among its competitors is its focus on some of the traditional baked goods of American Jewry, all of which were made in a separate factory in Givat Shaul – which, sadly, has also sent out its last shipments before closing. These included hamentashen, doughnuts and large cakes covered with an equally large and prominent layer of frosting.

The bakery also had distinct repertoires for holidays, with crowds lining up outside its doors every Hanukkah for its doughnuts, as well as on Purim for its enormous hamentashen – in fact, they were so big that one customer compared their size to that of a baby’s head.

But what the bakery was most famous for was its absolutely massive black-and-white cookies, known in other parts of the US as half-moons and in Germany as Amerikaners. Calling them cookies doesn’t truly do them justice – they’re more like miniature cake pastries. Black and whites are dense cake bases flattened into cookie shape, with one half covered with white icing and the other half with black icing. Originating among German immigrants in New York at the start of the 20th century, black and whites have become a major part of American Ashkenazi dessert culture, and are like little pieces of American Jewish nostalgia right here in Israel.

This is especially reflective of what made the bakery so special. Few other bakeries in Jerusalem – let alone the rest of Israel – make desserts that are so emblematic of the American Ashkenazi Jewish cultural experience, and certainly not at the same level of quality.

In particular, bakeries that sell black-and-white cookies in Israel are few and far between, especially not black and whites that big. There are some that do, however. Bourekas Ima in Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood has sold something similar to black-and-whites in the past, but they were still different.

Others on Facebook pointed out other bakeries that sell American-style baked goods. These included Herby’s Bake Shop in Beit El; Schreiner’s Bakery, and Moishy’s Bakery in Jerusalem; the Scoop Cafe in Efrat; and the New York Bake Shop in Beit Shemesh.

However, none of them have the same quality, understanding of American Jewish desserts and the history that the Brooklyn Bake Shop had to offer.

In its last week in business, customers eagerly lined up for a final opportunity to shop at this historic bakery.

Veteran Jerusalemites, visitors recall fond memories of Brooklyn Bake Shop

VETERAN JERUSALEMITES, as well as those who have visited the holy city for the past almost 30 years, have their own fond memories of a truly unique Israeli bakery.

“I remember when they first opened,” recalled Avi Mayer, the new Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief. “My mom was overjoyed that they had the black-and-white cookies she remembered from her childhood in New York.”

“That was always the number one place I would go to for bakery items,” said Ari Bandler on Facebook.

“I wish it didn’t close,” said Adina Kletzel. “My family looked forward to those awesome black-and-white cookies as a treat every so often. They were one of a kind.”

“You can take the boy out of Brooklyn, but you can’t take Brooklyn out of the boy,” mused Rabbi David Fine.

“Despite my intense love for the Land of Israel, the taste of the baked goods of my high school days in the bakeries of Brooklyn were always missing here, except for one place – the Brooklyn Bakery in Jerusalem. I am very, very sad to see it go.”

“I made aliyah as a kid 25 years ago. I was nine years old and missed New York, and the Brooklyn Bake Shop was always there,” said veteran olah Shira Jacobowitz.

Though she grew up in a family of avid bakers, the Brooklyn Bake Shop was always where Jacobowitz would go to buy baked goods for celebrations – or just for fun.

“Whether it was for my bat mitzvah kiddush or a blue-and-white or pink-and-white cake for when babies were born – they were always a staple. No trip to Geula was complete without a stop at the bakery.”❖