Have you tasted the world’s best cinnamon rolls? Then you know exactly what you are going to hear about now – namely the bakery in Å.
The bakery in Å can be found in the house called Gammelgården, from 1844. According to a letter from the Ellingsen family’s archive, the oven we use in the bakery was completed in 1878. The Ellingsen family ran the bakery until 1962.
The squire arranged accommodation in the building for the bakers, seasonal farm workers and servants. The baker had a bedroom on the second floor just above the oven. The baker had to expect to work long days during the fishing season. The visiting fishermen filled the Lofoten chests and barrels with food, clothing and supplies for the fishing season. They got fresh yeast baked goods such as bread and buns from the bakery. In almost all the fishing villages there was at least one bakery. These were for both visiting fishermen and the locals.
The oven in the bakery at Å was originally wood-fired. We burn birch wood on the baking surface to heat up the oven. For the last 10 years when the bakery was in operation, from 1952 to 1962, the oven was converted to oil-fired heating. In 1978, the bakery was approved as protected by the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, and the oven was restored in 1985.
The museum opens
The Norwegian Fishing Village Museum opened in the summer of 1988. The following year, in 1989, Else Rønnevig from Snøringsmoen near Lillesand was invited to Å to teach locals how to use and bake in the wood-fired oven. The test baking was on July 11. She trained 3 people to use the baking oven, who could then pass on the knowledge to others. The bakery had not been in use since the summer of 1962.
Many people stopped by the bakery to see what was going on. 40 loaves of bread were baked on the first day. And they were sold in 15 minutes!
The price was NOK 20 for wholemeal bread and NOK 15 for wheat cakes. On the second and third days, production was 120 each of the days. Everything was sold within half an hour. It is safe to say that there was life made for the baking oven.
The bakery is part of the Norwegian Fishing Village Museum and is fully operational during the summer (1 June-30 September, every day, 09:00-15:00). The bakery is open all summer, and one day in December.
On the first Saturday in December, we celebrate Old-fashioned Christmas at the museum, with Christmas baking of cinnamon rolls, a Christmas market and a visit from Santa Claus.
