A small bakery on Milwaukee's East Side is leaning into autumn with a menu built around cider-roasted apples, maple butterscotch and white chocolate ganache — and the pastries tend to disappear well before closing time. Poppy Bakery, located at 2021 E. Ivanhoe Place, has built a loyal following since opening just over a year ago, known for scratch-made, small-batch pastries that change with the seasons.
The bakery's fall lineup includes an apple croissant filled with maple butterscotch pastry cream and cider-roasted apples, a Halloween-themed Tombstone Eclair filled with white chocolate ganache, and a Croissantcho — a croissant baked in a buttered, sugared tin and topped with a creme brulee crust and vanilla pastry cream. Owner and pastry chef Amy Gorski told TMJ4 News that the shop's goal is simple: make good food for the community it serves.
From Farmers Market Stall to East Side Storefront
Poppy Bakery held its grand opening on June 14, 2025, moving into an East Side storefront, according to Urban Milwaukee. The Ivanhoe Place address was previously home to Sip & Purr Cat Cafe from 2018 until late 2023, when that business relocated to Brady Street, as reported by Milwaukee Record. That move left the storefront available just as Gorski was looking to turn her pop-up concept into a permanent home.
Before settling into a brick-and-mortar space, Poppy Bakery got its start as a pop-up vendor at regional events including the Brookfield Farmers Market. The bakery's name itself carries a personal story: Gorski named the concept in honor of a young girl she used to nanny, according to the same report. Gorski brought more than 12 years of industry experience into the venture, including time at artisan bakeries like Spilt Milk in Oak Park, Illinois, after deciding she preferred baking over working as a restaurant pastry chef.
Seasonal Sourcing Drives the Menu
Gorski's approach to the menu is built around a strict seasonal sourcing model. The bakery partners with regional producers, including Mick Klug Farms in Michigan for fresh fruit and Meadowlark Organics for grain, per the same account, reflecting a policy of avoiding out-of-season produce altogether. That philosophy shows up directly in the fall case, where cider-roasted apples and other seasonal ingredients take center stage.
To help get the physical shop off the ground, Gorski turned to community crowdfunding through Kickstarter, raising money to cover specialized kitchen equipment and renovations to the space. The bakery's interior still reflects that community-built foundation: the main display case was handmade by Gorski's childhood best friend, and a framed, butter-stained recipe note from a former colleague hangs inside, the outlet reported.
Small Team, Small Batches, Fast Sellouts
Poppy Bakery operates on a hands-on, boutique scale. At its public opening, the shop ran with just two people — Gorski and baker Paige Hanusa — handling all of the baking and service themselves. For beverages, the bakery partnered with Milwaukee-based roaster Valentine Coffee to serve drip and espresso drinks alongside its pastry case.
That small-batch approach means supply is limited. Poppy Bakery is open Thursday through Sunday, with hours from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday — but the shop stops serving pastries once they sell out, often before the posted closing time, according to TMJ4 News.
The bakery's debut last year landed amid a broader wave of growth in Milwaukee's food scene, with 117 new restaurants and bars opening across the city during 2025, per Urban Milwaukee. A year later, Poppy Bakery's fall case stands as one example of that growth taking root on the East Side, one cider-roasted apple croissant at a time.
