Trenary Toast: A Finnish tasty treat from the U.P. that's great for morning coffee, afternoon tea or late night cocoa!

 

Trenary Toast, great for coffee, tea or cocoa.

Whether you're a dunker or a cruncher, Trenary Toast, is a delicious snack.

Trenary Toast is made at the Trenary Home Bakery in Trenary, a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  The baked bread with Finnish roots, has been an area staple for over 90 years. 

Like Trenary Toast, I too, have roots in Finland as well as the U.P. (my paternal grandparents were from Vaasa, part of a Swedish settlement in Finland, and my Dad was born in Baraga, a friendly one traffic light town on the scenic Keweenaw Bay) , and while most of my relatives would have enjoyed the crispy nosh with a cup of black coffee, it isn't limited to an early morning repast. In fact, I was delighted to see the Trenary Toast package declare that it is also "perfect for . . . afternoon tea or late night cocoa".  

BTS was delighted to see "afternoon tea" cited on the Trenary Toast package.

Per the Trenary Home Bakery website, the company was started by Jorma and Elise Syrannen in 1928. Their featured product, the Trenary Toast, is a twice baked Finnish coffee bread. It had great appeal for the tiny logging town, but quickly spread beyond Trenary, a town thirty-plus miles southeast of Marquette, to become a "Yooper" favorite.

As noted in the "Visit Escanaba" blog (Bring home a bag of the U.P.'s iconic treat, Trenary Toast), the Syrannens sold their bakery to the Halliens in 1950 where it continued through a few generations before its current owners, Brianna Wynsma and Marco Dossena, purchased it in 2019.

Brianna and Marco, both graduates of Northern Michigan University, hold to the Trenary Toast tradition while adding a few variations in the mix. In addition to the cinnamon-sugar original, their other selections include tart cherry, vanilla, cardamon, and chocolate dipped (both milk and dark). 

Dunker, a bit of Trenary Toast in Earl Grey

The  new owners also set up shop in Marquette, with the Trenary Toast Cafe. Its menu features Scandinavian-style open faced sandwiches along with cinnamon rolls and a "squeaky cheese" plate. 

As far as flavor, we really enjoyed our Trenary Toast. It's like a biscotti, an Italian cookie that is also twice-baked. And, that extra bake takes out all the moisture to give Trenary Toast its impressive shelf life of up to a year. Once you open the bag, however, and take in the sweet cinnamon sugar aroma, we doubt your Trenary Toast package will still have anything remaining after twelve months. 

The extra baking time also give Trenary Toast its extra crispy texture. If you prefer not to bite into a pretty solid piece toast, you can dunk it in your tea or coffee to soften. Either way, it's very tasty.

We ordered our Trenary Toast on-line through the Trenary Home Bakery website. Their website also includes a list of retail outlets that sell their products, including many in the Lower Peninsula.

We're inspired now to add Trenary Toast to a Scandinavian-themed afternoon tea! (More details to come). My Grandmother's invitation to "coffee" always meant a table full of cakes and rolls - a meal more than a cup of java - and it always shocked, pleasantly, those new to the "coffee" custom. I think the tradition of "coffee", and some scrumptious Trenary Toast, will work well for an afternoon tea from the "Land of the Midnight Sun".  Working title:  A Sweet and Savory Smorgasbord Afternoon Tea, dunking acceptable,  Yooper hat optional. 

For more on Trenary Toast visit the Trenary Home bakery's website, trenaryhomebakery.com.

Also, see Barb's Tea Service's latest podcast, where we discuss Bridgerton, Sally Lunn and Trenary Toast. It's Podcast Number 7, starting at the 17 minute mark, on our YouTube channel, Barb's Tea Service.