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By Luanne Roy
Fairfield County Weekly
March 3, 2006

Step into Fairfield County's newest bakery and you'll know the shop's name fits the dictionary definition of "haven"--a place to seek refuge or comfort.

Owner and chief baker Francine Bove not only makes cakes, cookies and cupcakes that dazzle the eyes, but, more importantly, they taste as good as they look. Her shop may be small, but the select choice of goodies is second to none.

One showcase displays miniature pies, crumb cakes (that Bove says are her best seller), cookies, and biscotti, and the variety alternates on a daily basis. But the piece de resistance is in the far case that houses all her beautiful creations--cakes and cupcakes so meticulously designed (with hand-painted details) you hate to cut into them. Bove's initial career as a graphic designer attests to her skills as a master cake decorator, and that's what she loves to do best.

"I love fancy cakes," she comments. "People come to me when they want something different, something outrageous." She's made wedding cakes that duplicate the embroidery on a bride's dress, she's hand painted portraits of couples on anniversary cakes (as opposed to the store-bought versions that screen pictures on cakes). But, looks aside, Bove attests that her cakes are a cut above other bakery and store-bought cakes because she makes everything from scratch, using only quality ingredients--like real butter in her buttercream frosting, not vegetable shortening. All her goods are baked on premises; nothing comes pre-baked and frozen from a distributor (which is what you get in most grocery bakeries). The bottom line, as Bove succinctly puts it, "We specialize in custom."

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