Here’s the Dish with Dana Iannelli of Shorebreak Cafe
4002 Landis Ave. Sea Isle City, NJ | 609-486-2137 | shorebreakcafe.com
Shorebreak Cafe is a bakery that offers your favorite style of coffee, homemade treats, and savory eats to enjoy any time of day! Pastries are baked fresh every morning along with made-to-order breakfast sandwiches and more. Shorebreak Cafe is the local place to grab something quick on your way to the beach or while you’re out for a walk.
Q&A
1. Who/what inspires you to bake?
People! I love creating joy and happiness through baked goodness! Being able to be a part of people’s special occasions and memories makes me happy.
2. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
My favorite holiday dessert is a lobster tail pastry. My dad used to buy them every year in Staten Island. Good ones are hard to find! I have yet to successfully create this pastry, but each year my sister and I talk about how and when we will get it right! Getting the perfect flaky dough and then replicating the cream from Alba’s bakery that I remember as a kid has not been an easy feat! I wish my grandparents were still here to pick their brains about this classic Italian pastry.
3. Where do you find yourself most when you are not baking?
Spending time with my family. Opening a bakery has been very rewarding, challenging and time-consuming all at the same time! When I have downtime, I like to spend it with my family!
4. What type of bakery item do you excel at making and why?
At Shorebreak, I would say classic, rustic, with a twist. We create classic items that people in the New Jersey/Pennsylvania area love, but also I like to keep up with trends in big cities and bring some of that flair to the bakery as well.
5. What is the best part about baking?
For me, to share the product with the world. The feeling of seeing someone’s joy over an item you created cannot be replaced!
Dutch Apple Pie - Yield one 9-inch pie
Ingredients:
*Preheat oven to 350 F conventional oven, 325 F for convection oven
Pie Crust
Ingredients:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound unsalted butter, cold and cut in cubes
½ cup ice water (You may not need all the water, just enough for the dough to come together.)
Instructions:
Cut cold butter and set aside in refrigerator while you weigh out your remaining ingredients. Add flour, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl. Using your paddle attachment on the mixer, mix the dry ingredients together on low speed to combine. Add cold butter to the bowl. Mix on low speed until the butter becomes pea size. Drizzle in the cold water until a dough forms, do not overmix. Refrigerate dough for 45 mins before rolling out. Once ready to roll, flour your work surface and roll out a 12-inch circle. Fit the dough into your pie dish and press dough down into the pan and crimp edges as desired.
Crumb Topping
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted, cold butter cut in small cubes
Instructions:
Combine all ingredients together in a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until the butter breaks into pea-size pieces and the mixture is crumbly yet comes together. Do not overmix, you want this to be very loose and not doughy. Place crumb topping in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Filling
Ingredients :
8 Granny Smith apples (or your favorite baking apple of choice)
Juice from ½ of a lemon
¼ cup granulated white sugar
1 tablespon all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions:
Peel, core and slice apples. Place in a medium-sized bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and toss all together to combine. Fill your pie shell with all the apple filling. It will look like too much, but apples contain a lot of water, and they will shrink drastically after baking. Cover the top of your pie with the crumb topping. Place your pie on a baking sheet and place in your preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn down your oven 25 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes. Cool and enjoy! For decorating, you can dust the top of the pie with powdered sugar if desired.
