Neighbourhood bakery in Toronto just closed and its owner is sharing all her recipes

A Toronto bakery that was a neighbourhood go-to has closed its doors permanently, and its owner is divulging all her secrets.

For as many great bakeries as there are opening in Toronto these days, others are also opting to close their doors, and the latest is Danforth East's Ampersand Bakehouse.

For over half a decade, the bakery was a cornerstone of the neighbourhood. What started as a popular farmers' market fixture eventually blossomed into a brick-and-mortar operation, serving sweet treats from a streetside window for the past seven years.

Helmed by local baker Stephanie Kaptein, nostalgic childhood favourites reinterpreted with elements adults love were the bread and butter at Ampersand: think pink-champagne vanilla cupcakes and peanut-butter Oreo Rice Krispies squares.

Despite its tenure as a neighbourhood stalwart, however, Stephanie made the decision to close the bakery permanently in December 2025: a decision she later explained in a post on her personal blog aptly titled Why I Closed Ampersand Bakehouse.

"This decision didn't come easily. The bakery has been such a big part of my life and so many celebrations in our neighbourhood," Stephanie writes in the post.

"But as the years went on, I realized that what I loved most wasn't just the act of baking — it was the creativity behind it."

Where Stephanie's passion really lies, she explains, is in the more exploratory aspects of baking: recipe development, cake decorating, styling for photoshoots. Eventually, she realized that the day-to-day grind of running the business was only hurting her passions, not helping to satisfy them.

"Closing the physical bakery isn’t the end of my baking journey. It's a shift into something that feels more aligned with where I am now. I want to spend more time creating, writing, and sharing recipes that inspire other people to bake at home," Stephanie writes.

On the bright side, this shift also means that, while people in Toronto won't be able to pick up Ampersand Bakehouse treats that were personally prepared by Stephanie, they will be able to make their own versions.

In the blog post, Stephanie shares that she'll soon be launching a digital recipe collection, full of Ampersand favourites and new creations, for bakers to get a taste of Ampersand at home, which will be sent out to subscribers of her email list.

It's always sad to see a business leave the neighbourhood — especially one as integral to the community as Ampersand — but the knowledge that the digital recipe collection will soon be in rotation feels like a decent trade-off.

"Thank you for every visit, every cake order, every conversation, and every bit of love you've shown the bakery over the years. You made Ampersand Bakehouse so much more than a business. You made it a community," Stephanie concludes.

"I hope you'll keep baking with me."

Ampersand Bakehouse was formerly located at 1808 Danforth Ave.