Featuring Portuguese Biscuits and Sweetbread

For two years Patricia Bologna and her sister, Susan Cipollaro nurtured the idea of bringing their family recipes for Portuguese tea biscuits and sweetbread to market. They enrolled in the WBDC FastTrac-New Venture program in order to develop a business plan that would bring this cherished idea to fruition. The company, founded by Patricia Bologna and her sister, Susan Cipollaro; two women, with Italian married surnames, but instilled with the notion, popular in Portuguese culture, that baking brings happiness to people.

Their company, Burb's Bread and Biscuit Company, produces a special tea biscuit as well as Portuguese sweetbread. Similar to their Italian cousins, biscotti, the biscuits are ideal for dunking in a hot cup of tea or coffee and are made with eggs, sugar, and flour. They are shaped into rings and baked until they are crunchy. Sweetbread, on the other hand, is a melt-in-your mouth, almost cake-like bread. It is made with sugar, flour, yeast, and a generous amount of melted butter poured intermittently while kneading the dough.

They worked with a graphic designer for labels and packaging using traditional Portuguese colors of blue and white. They market the items to gourmet food and coffee shops in the lower Fairfield County area.

Both sisters inherited their love of baking from their mother, Victoria Martins and their maternal grandmother, Isabel Cabral, both born and raised in a small village on the island of St. Michael, in the Azores. Their mother was taught to bake by their grandmother, who still oversees her kitchen with a critical eye. Thanks to the many years of baking together they developed the expertise that will insure consistent and excellent products.

As part of their WBDC FastTrac training they learned that one of their crucial tasks was to educate potential retailers and consumers about the biscuits and sweetbread, which will be new to many people. As a first step they distributed free samples at the WBDC Business Expo that took place at the Rich Forum in Stamford. Thanks to the WBDC they also had an opportunity to share their progress with the Exchange, a local afternoon television program, in order to inform the public about their traditional Portuguese products and to help create a market for these delectable treats. Currently Burb's Bread and Biscuit Company is taking orders both from individuals and local gourmet shops in lower Fairfield County. Patricia and Susan are now proud members of the WBDC Fast Trac Alumni group, and are searching for a low cost, high quality web company to update their website. www.burbsbread.com, 203.869.4739, jprbologna@optonline.net.