Moeller’s Bakery, located at 4201 Bellaire Blvd., has been serving up delectable baked goods since 1930.
The bakery is located in a modest, nondescript building. What the building lacks in design, however, is made up for with the vivid seasonal murals painted on the windows, such as this Easter one:
And this tribute to the armed forces for Memorial Day:
Inside, the bakery cases are filled with temptations of all kinds. There’s mouth-watering kolaches, rolls, and breakfast pastries:
A variety of cookies next to delicate cheese straws:
For a special treat, there’s colorful iced cookies:
The themed cakes waiting to be picked up will make you want to have a party of your own:
Forgot to plan ahead? There’s always a choice of cakes waiting to be decorated just for you (of course, they taste just as good unadorned):
But the thing for which Moeller’s is known throughout the city–maybe throughout the state–is its petit fours:
You can choose from white petit fours:
Or chocolate petit fours:
Moeller’s petit fours consist of a rectangle of airy cake — two or three bites’ worth — enrobed in a poured fondant glaze that has the slightest crackle when you bite into it, topped with a little icing flower. I’ve seen them at parties with custom monograms, although personally, I think the flowers are prettier. (Monogrammed food can be kind of pretentious, don’t you think?) The petit fours are $1.95 apiece for white, $2.35 for chocolate. (The staff was not sure why the difference in price, just that it’s always been that way — let’s just assume it’s because they use high-quality cocoa powder.) The bakery sells 40 to 50 dozen of these per day during the week, and 200 dozen per day on the weekends. 200 DOZEN! Forget cupcakes and macarons — I think if anyone was paying attention, the next baking trend would be petit fours.
The secret to Moeller’s longevity is obvious to me. Every time I enter the bakery, I become a kid again. I want one of every cookie in the shop, and a birthday cake with my name (not my age) spelled out in bright pink icing. I can never decide between white or chocolate petit fours, or how many to buy, so I buy half of each and always too many, which turns out to be never enough. I love that the ladies behind the counter call me “Honey” or “Sweetie” and are infinitely patient as I vacillate between which goodies to buy. It’s glass display cases and white cake boxes and linoleum and baker’s twine all rolled up into a timeless Houston treasure.
