The Little Tart

In a time when quantity seems to take precedence over quality, one Highlands bakery has gone back to the old fashioned belief that quality is best. The Little Tart bakery on Koshlong Lake Road in Donald makes all of its products from scratch in an artisan kitchen and ensures that they are always sold fresh. The Little Tart offers a variety of tarts, pies, cookies, and dessert bars all of which are made from their original recipes.

Owners Bill and Theresa Ross bought the business as the Donald Dairy Bar in February of 2006 with the intention of being a local store and ice cream shop for the Donald and Koshlong Lake community. “We quickly learned that most people shopped in town and we would not survive as a convenience store,” Bill said. “Theresa's mother had taught her to bake from the time she was six years old and so Theresa began to introduce baking into the store beginning with her butter tarts. We kept selling out of the baking, and knew we were on to something. In the winter of 2009 we did a complete renovation, installed a commercial kitchen and became The Little Tart.”

At the moment Bill and Theresa operate The Little Tart on their own. Theresa is the baker and Bill helps with baking preparation and works the front of the store. 

Bill and his family have owned a cottage on Koshlong Lake for over fifty years. His mother shopped at the store when it was still a department store. When it became a dairy bar the kids would walk from the cottage for ice cream. Bill has always wanted to buy the store. During a trip to the cottage for Thanksgiving in 2005 he noticed that the place was for sale. In 2004, Theresa's mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and by Thanksgiving was unable to live on her own. Bill and Theresa’s apartment in Toronto was too small for three people and they started looking for a house because they were about to become full time caregivers. When they saw the store in Donald for sale the timing was perfect and they immediately put in an offer.

Bill and Theresa believe that their innovation shows in all of their baking. “We researched the bakery market before we created our menu and noticed that in cottage country you will find fifty different kinds of "butter tarts" and that everyone was freezing their tarts in order to keep up with volume. Our research showed that the butter tart is a Canadian tradition. We make one butter tart. All of our other tarts are custard based or fruit tarts and we never freeze our baked goods. We currently have eleven varieties of tarts. We also sell scooped ice cream and began incorporating our baked goods in with the ice cream to create our own specialty desserts such as mud slides and guilty butter tarts,” Theresa said.

Bill and Theresa have created a print menu, business cards and have an online blog (thelittletartbakery.blogspot.com) that receives a regular stream of visitors. They have been creating an online presence by getting posted on Google maps, ShopHaliburton .com, local tourism sites, and they’re working to set up The Little Tart on Facebook. 

Bill and Theresa are attempting to expand their business, and sell their deserts from a variety of locations. They recently began supplying Hilltop Market with butter tarts as well as The Peppermill Restaurant.

Bill and Theresa believe that their store has a unique personality, which extends beyond their tarts and desserts. “When people enter the store they find humor in our product signs. We incorporate our sense of humor and Theresa's writing skills into our menu, the product description cards, and our blog. People also enjoy seeing my paintings hanging on our walls. They give the store an artsy feel,” Theresa said.

Bill and Theresa pride themselves on friendly and courteous customer service and offering value for the dollar. “We strive to make The Little Tart an experience as well as a destination,” Theresa said. “We want to be a part of the summer tradition here in Haliburton and based on the number of repeat and new customers who visit us every day we believe we are succeeding.”