Long Island's Swan Bakery Transformed Into Sugar Dreams

EAST PATCHOGUE, NY — It has been nearly two months since Guy Gagliano sold his last cake and shuttered the Swan Bakery, and patrons so used to dropping by for their sugar fix have been missing out.

But that changed on Saturday.

There’s a new baker, or bakers, in town.

The Queens-based master baker duo of Nicole Minor and Anali Roldan, who have cut their teeth at high-end bakeries as well at the competition level, decorated the first birthday cake at their new venture, Sugar Dreams Bakery, just after 4 p.m.

They hope to bring a decent quality bakery to the neighborhood because they have heard from residents that there's not really a lot of bakeries around the area, Minor said.

“They're looking forward to this,” she said during a sneak peek during the bakery’s soft opening. “And so we're looking forward to being able to create for people and have a little fun.”

Roldan said she is looking forward to making what she likes, “to make art, to create and to make people happy.”

Mark Biagioni, who grew up in Patchogue but now lives in Shirley, used to visit the bakery often when he was a child, but he had not stopped in for about 10 years, he said. The chocolate birthday cake he purchased for his sister, Christina, ended up being the very first birthday cake sold at the bakery.

"That's great," he said. "That's so cool."

George Miller made the trek from Moriches because he was curious about the new bakery.

"So far it looks great," he said.

He bought two cheesecakes and an apple turnover.

"I think I am good for the week," he added.

Minor said that the two specialize in custom cakes — cakes for any occasion such as birthdays, weddings and everything in between. The bakery will have an in-house baker who will make fresh-baked pastries for breakfast every morning, and there are plans to bring in Italian and French bread.

They will also offer individual pastries such as various flavors of Danish and rugelach, as well as apple turnovers and chocolate cigars. Cheesecake, fruit tarts, cannolis, creme puffs, mousse cups, cookies, cupcakes and cake pops are also on the menu.

“And, of course, doughnuts,” Minor said with a laugh.

The soft opening was a long time coming for Minor and Roldan.

“We’ve been in the baking business probably 12 years,” Minor said. “We've worked in a bunch of high-end stores. Between us, we have a lot of decoration experience.”

In the past, the two master bakers have served up a litany of extravagant confections ranging from simple designs such as Louis Vuitton bag-themed cakes and cakes with dolls, superheroes, and unicorns to complicated, multi-layer pieces such as a life-size "Walking Dead" theme cake to cakes featuring Dolly Parton, Gene Simmons in his full-on KISS makeup to a cake replicating a Doritos bag.

Both women have also run the decoration department at busy Long Island bakeries.

“We have a real feel for that, a real design touch,” she said.

Between them, they have worked in Mario’s Bakery in Oceanside, Buttercooky Bakery in Floral Park and Dortoni’s Bakery in Hicksville.

“This is our first venture together and on our own — apart from working for somebody else,” Minor said.

It took two women six weeks to get the business up and running after renovating the inside of the bakery, giving it a more modern look to go with their offerings.

“I guess we didn't plan for it to be a whole renovation, but at the end of the day we just decided, this is what we wanted to give our customers — you know, a clean fresh face,” Minor said. “We spent a lot of time just cleaning and refreshing every corner of this bakery, bringing kind of modern touches to it that weren't necessarily here.”

All of the systems and the machinery also have been updated.

“We refinished pretty much soup to nuts back here,” Minor said, adding that they have hired a whole team of bakers and have plans to hire other staff.

That’s all that will change for Minor and Roldan, who have been traveling in an hourlong commute every day from Queens.

“It’s temporary,” Minor said, noting that they will have to move their families to be closer to the growing business.

One thing that will not change is their competition in decorating contests.

"I like to create," Roldan said, adding, "You know you're you're doing something good."

Usually, they are always in the back baking, but competing gives them a chance to put their work on display.

"We're doing something that we take a lot of joy in creating," Minor said.

With their soft opening behind them, the two plan to open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and there will be a full grand opening with special offers, which has been planned for this coming weekend.

"We're strong women — mothers — and we are looking to keep this thing growing," Roldan said.