Windmill Lane Bakery opens in Southampton

It’s hard for a baker to be all things to all people, but Karoline Cerqueira is doing her best — and making it work. The proprietor of Windmill Lane Bakery has a background in cooking for people with dietary restrictions and was excited about introducing gluten free, dairy free / vegan confections to her customers when she opened in August. But she was also mindful of her shop’s carbohydrate DNA: Ye Olde Bake Shoppe (whose wares were exactly what you’d expect) had occupied this location for decades until it closed earlier this year.

"You need to study the market," she said. "And my customers craved those old-fashioned things — apple fritters, sugar cookies, danishes. On Fridays they come for challah, on weekends they come after church for hot chocolate, on weekdays moms come in with their kids for a cupcake."

For those and other traditional baked goods — bestsellers include a rich-but-flaky babka, herbed Bavarian pretzels — Cerqueira deploys wheat flour and dairy where needed, but she was also determined to raise the local standard for gluten-free and vegan baked goods. (While she does not have a dedicated gluten-free kitchen, she minimizes cross contamination by baking gluten-free items together after thoroughly cleaning all surfaces and equipment. Whether conventional or gluten free, most individual items are $3.50 to $5.)

"I try to transform what people miss into something that they are going to love" she said, citing gluten-free pumpkin-cranberry muffins and apple-fritters as two items that even gluten eaters enjoy. Cerqueira was born and raised in Brazil so it’s no surprise that she makes marvelous pão de queijo, the tapioca-based Brazilian cheese puff that is naturally gluten free.

At age 24, she moved to Southampton. Always drawn to the kitchen, she did not like the stress of restaurant work and so she moved into the adjacent callings of catering and private chef work with a specialty in special-needs diets. That led to a company, KC Healthy Ways, that made prepared meals. But she always had a dream of opening a cafe.

With the Christmas and Hanukkah approaching Windmill Lane has shifted into high holiday gear. The flourless chocolate cake ($65), a perpetual favorite, is now decked out with red cranberries and green rosemary leaves. A big Santa jar can be filled with your choice of regular or gluten-free cookies ($50). And all available nonfood surfaces in the charming store are filled with gifts from cutting boards and napkins to mugs and candlesticks.

Windmill Lane Bakery, 17 Windmill Lane, Southampton, 631-998-0430, windmilllncafe.com. Open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday.