New to Irondale, Sunshine’s Bakery is owned by Sunshine Dang and Ronald Williamson, a husband-and-wife team who opened shop in early September. The bakery’s main focus is on pastries, breads and cookies. Sunshine began selling croissants and, later, cinnamon rolls from her front yard. After a handful of farmers markets and local events helped build a solid customer base, she seized the opportunity to take over a downtown Irondale space that had been vacated by another bakery. “I had been baking only two or three months at that time, but I took a risk to lease the property,” says Sunshine. “It was a lot of work to fix it up and ready [the space] for a storefront—the previous bakery was delivery only—but my husband supports and helps me a lot.” The couple slowly built up their shop, buying new equipment as they can. “Everyone has to start somewhere.”
Sunshine, who remembers her family picking up treats from a shop close to their Vietnam home when she was a child, says “[That bakery] felt like a family—people greeting you and making you feel very welcome,” she says. “I really want to bring that to Irondale. We need a place where you can come and feel comfortable.” Her vision for Sunshine’s Bakery is a “small little place in the neighborhood where people can swing by after work or after they pick up their kid, grab some treats, have a talk, and then enjoy their evening with cinnamon rolls or croissants ready for breakfast the next day,” she says. “I like that the shop is so close to the train track because it brings back my memories in Hanoi, before moving here to study at UAB. In Hanoi, we also have the train in the middle of the city, with coffee shops and bakeries right next to [the train].”
Sunshine notes that she uses the best ingredients she can find to bake fresh each day, including high-quality unprocessed flour and European butter. There are no preservatives in her breads. “Just flour, water, and salt and inclusions like seeds or cheese,” she says. Her menu includes crowd-favorite croissants (plain and flavors like pistachio, ham and cheese, and pepperoni), cinnamon rolls, sourdough bread, cookies, and scones. Tarts and mini-pies are also in the rotation. When the weather is nice, customers can sit out front on picnic tables to enjoy Sunshine’s pastries with a cup of coffee.
“I know it’s not very profitable and it’s a lot of work,” says Sunshine. “But the shop brings me lots of joy and meaningful memories, and we met lots of nice people.
Sunshine’s Bakery is located at 2231 1st Avenue South in Irondale. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. Visit sunshinebakeshop.com.