In a small cottage kitchen in Annapolis, Maryland, Hannah Gribbin is hard at work, folding pastry dough, reducing simple syrups, and piping icing onto a variety of delectable creations. Then, she’ll put on her boots and her foulies, and head out to her restored crab-fishing boat, Honey Bun, to deliver the delicious breakfast pastries and treats to the mooring fields and dock slips around the Annapolis Harbor.
Gribbin is the founder and owner of Cocoa & Pearl Bakery, a new bakery delivering muffins, buns, cakes, cookies and more to sailors and boaters spending their summers on the water in Annapolis. Everything she makes is hand-made and from scratch, under the watchful eye of her three daughters, two dogs, and husband.
Gribbin grew up sailing in Annapolis with her family. With memories of the cold, shelf-stable breakfasts her parents would pack for weekends on the water, she aspired to more. “We would have glorious spring and summer days sailing, swimming in the Bay, playing board games, and laughing into the night, just to wake up to a pop tart and juice box for breakfast,” says Gribbin. “As an adult with my own family that loves to be on the water, I’m rewriting those mornings.”
After six years in the US Coast Guard, Gribbin attended pastry school — where she was valedictorian of her class — and honed her skills at a busy Boston bakery before her family returned to their Annapolis roots. Now, Cocoa & Pearl is creating an environment for the Gribbin family and the Annapolis boating community, where boaters will wake up to the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls wafting from a beautiful Cocoa & Pearl Bakery box — delivered right to their very own boats.
“I want to set a good example for my daughters of taking a risk and following your dreams,” she says of starting her own business. “I am excited to see where this takes us.”
Cocoa & Pearl is now accepting orders for delivery online through their website, cocoaandpearl.com.
Images: Hannah Gribbin, Cocoa & Pearl
