Hillcrest Bakery

Hillcrest Bakery has held its corner of Main Street in downtown Bothell for generations, under a sign that reads family owned and operated since 1934. The Kaskes family chapter began in 1965, when Peter Kaskes, who had been hired there as a baker, and his wife Leida bought the business. Three generations of the family have worked the ovens since, and their baking line runs back to Wormer, in the Netherlands, in 1838.

Dutch baking is the reason to come. Look for marzipan rolls and cakes made with house marzipan, banket staaf, taai taai and speculaas, alongside almond kringle, stollen and apple strudel. The everyday case covers breakfast pastries, donuts and bread baked daily without preservatives, and the apple fritter, the maple bar and the garlic sourdough have all been singled out in print over the years.

The bakery also makes wedding and custom cakes, which need to be ordered ahead rather than the same day. It is open Monday through Saturday from 6 in the morning to 5 in the evening and closed Sunday. There are four free parking spaces at the shop, with street parking on Main Street and Bothell Way, and the rebuilt downtown around it makes a pastry and a walk an easy morning.