European-Style Breads and Pastries
Against the Grain, LLC specializes in artisan breads and pastries crafted in the European tradition. Our mission is simple — produce an honest loaf through the use of quality ingredients and the age-old method of long fermentation. Why against the grain? Avoiding the short-cuts and pre-mixed ingredients used by many American-style bakeries, we invest our time and skills to evoke the fullest flavor from the grain.
We hope you will become as passionate about good bread as we are.
About Us
Head baker Douglas Rae developed a passion for baking bread at a very early age. Raised in a family of home bread-bakers, he quickly dove deeper into the science and art behind baking bread through a personal library of books he collected. By the time he entered high school, he had built an Alan Scott brick oven in his backyard for baking small batches of bread. And during the summer before his senior year, he interned at Little Notch Bakery in Southwest Harbor, Maine.
Douglas attended Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. where he earned an associate degree in bread and pastry and a bachelor degree in food service entrepreneurship. While at Johnson & Wales, Douglas worked alongside artisan bakers on the east and west coasts of the U.S. He also spent time in Paris observing the masters at work.
Breads
Baguette — traditional French bread
Baguette Ancienne — old-world-style with hints of whole wheat
and
toasted wheatgerm
7-Grain — pan loaf made with an organic mix of 7 grains,
and a touch of honey
Pain a Levain — traditional French sourdough boule
Campagne — rustic French sourdough loaf
New World Rye — variation on the traditional rye — seedless with toasted almonds and 7-grain mix
Vermont Sourdough — mild sourdough loaf enriched
whole wheat flour
Country French — simple rustic French loaf
Miche de Meteil — hearty round loaf made of whole wheat and rye flours
Focaccia — Italian flat bread topped with rosemary, olive oil and
Brittany sea salt
Raisin Walnut — flavorful loaf packed with walnuts and California raisins, sweetened with a hint of honey
Pastries
Croissants — butter, almond
Pain au Chocolat — croissant with semi-sweet chocolat
Sun Buns — rolled and baked in cinnamon sugar
Pain au Raisin — pinwheel with raisins and pastry cream
Chocolate Twists — with pastry cream and chocolate chunks
Cookies — mocha chocolate chunk, oatmeal raisin, almond,
and English rock cakes
Muffins — Maine blueberry