New South Shore bakery: Less sugar and Vietnamese-style coffees

MARSHFIELD ? Mere weeks before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Henry Pham and his wife, Hannah Cao, moved to the South Shore from Vietnam to join family.

While Pham quickly settled into a career in IT, he and Cao spent some time exploring what she wanted to do for work. He said she explored several different opportunities, but she has always loved baking.

"She has a strong background baking with her mom and making coffee," Pham said. "Her family harvests and roasts coffee and are big exporters where they live, so she wanted to continue that tradition."

Pham took a break from his career and the couple recently opened Hannah's Sweetcakes & Coffee in Marshfield. The name is a direct translation from their native language, where "bánh ng?t" means "sweet cake."

"At first, people were skeptical because our offerings are so different, from the way we make coffee to the flavors of cookies," Pham said, pointing to their beetroot and cheddar cookies. "People just stared at them because the color is different and people never experienced anything like that. Now, they love them."

After settling in the United States, Pham said he and his wife quickly noticed that many American baked goods had a lot of sugar. Inspired by the old French baking style adopted by the Vietnamese during the 19th century, Hannah's Sweetcakes & Coffee offers freshly baked goods with a “less sweet” approach.

Pham said their frosting is made from natural unsalted butter and a smaller amount of meringue, unlike the sugar-heavy icing typically used in American frosting. As a result, their frosted products, like cupcakes and butter cakes, have about one-third of the sugar found in average American products.

"Our customers really love that the frosting has less sugar than the average American cake," he said, adding that they have been taking a lot of orders for custom cakes and cupcakes.

Tapping into Cao's family roots, the bakery also offers a variety of coffees. One of the most popular items is the Vietnamese blend, which has a special ratio of Arabica and Robusta beans. It tastes bolder than the average 100% Arabica roast and pairs with sweetened condensed milk. The combination creates a coffee that is thicker and almost tastes like melted coffee ice cream.

They also serve teas, including tropical fruit and peach, which Pham said have been bestsellers on hot days.

Hannah's Sweetcakes & Coffee

• Location: 11 Webster Square, Marshfield.

• Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday to Tuesday. Closed Wednesdays.

• Contact: 781-413-0061 or hannahssweetcakes.com.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Hannah's Sweetcakes & Coffee, a Vietnamese bakery, opens in Marshfield