The impact family traditions can have on a persons life takes shape in many ways and that holds true for Sarah Gonzales, owner of Spring Hill Bakery.
Spring Hill FRESH got a chance to sit down and talk with Sarah about her booming baking business which her, her husband and daughter have been successfully growing over the past few years here in the Spring Hill area. To understand her artistic skills and passion for baking we wanted to know what drew Sarah to the love of baking in the first place. Sarah shared her fond memories of her grandmother, mother, aunts, and sisters in the kitchen prepping, cooking, tasting, talking, and preparing meals, canning and preserving foods for the family.
She learned many of the family recipes and cooking techniques in those years which she carried with her into her very own kitchen. Using only the finest ingredients, Sarah bakes everything from scratch! Her love for traditional and authentic methods of cooking, caring on the family pride, ‘the way it was done back in the day’ have been the foundation to her keeping alive the proven handmade methods her family has passed down through the generations.
Though Sarah loves to cook, it was the introduction her mother gave her to sourdough starter that drew her love to the art of baking. Early settlers in the West relied on sourdough to leaven bread before commercial baking powder and yeast were readily available. All sourdough recipes begin with a starter a mixture of flour, water and a little sugar. A good starter can last for many years and have been known to have been passed down for years through families and from friend to friend. Sarah recalls her great grandmother during the Great Depression traveled from Missouri to California as a single mother of four children carrying the ingredients for a sourdough starter so she could work as a baker in California. Baking is in her bloodline!
Sarah relocated here from California a few years ago with her family. Her husband Corey was in the music industry and he had a prosperous music marketing and recording studio business. He had been interested in the area for a good while because the music scene in Nashville was still strong even though it was pretty flat in LA and other parts of the country.
He and Sarah were also looking for new opportunities as entrepreneurs and family lifestyle for their daughter which helped them make the decision to move to Spring Hill in 2014. With the baking skills Sarah has and the marketing creativity Corey has…they make an unbeatable team and the proof is in the bread! (pun intended)
The family business is also unique in that they are versatile when it comes to location. They are weekly regulars at the Thompson’s Station and Spring Hill Farmers market and have a bread stand at the Tractor Supply store in Thompson’s Station. In addition, earlier this year, they opened up their first commercial location selling their delectable goods at the historic Rippavilla Plantation in Spring Hill.
As the business has grown, so have the opportunities and possibilities. As word spreads about their fresh artisan breads and goods, the doors for commercial business to restaurants and stores are also opening.ξ Sarah shared her vision is also to possibly open their own bakery storefront in the near future! Corey and Sarah are considering all their options to grow their small business.
One thing for sure is…the Spring Hill Bakery has won the hearts of folks in the area and Sarah’s fresh artisan breads, Lemon Blueberry bread, Jalapeno Cheddar bread, Cranberry Orange bread, Buttered Knots, Banana Bread, Baguettes, Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies, Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies and more are delicious for every generation!
Get your breads at…
Spring Hill Bakery
Rippavilla Plantation gift shop 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays.
5700 Main St
Spring Hill, TN.
Order Online
Phone: (615) 952-1222
