ZELIENOPLE — Even with a blindfold, the nature of business at Carol’s Pastry Shop could not be a secret. The sweet, yeasty aroma would give it away.

That smell alone can evoke childhood memories and hopes of soon tasting something incredibly delightful.

“We’re still old fashioned,” said Carol Wahl, co-owner. “We’ve had people come in as kids with their parents, and now they’re coming in as adults with their kids.”

Her husband, Bill, started washing pans and helping out at K.C. Bakery in Butler while he was in high school. After graduation, he completed a program at Dunwoody Industrial Institute in Minneapolis. While he was in school, the couple married and moved to Minneapolis.

“I was 21. My husband was 20,” Wahl said. She had been working in a bank.

When Bill Wahl finished the training, he worked at Kretchmar’s Bakery in Beaver for a short time.

“We bought K.C. Bakery in Zelienople in 1974,” Wahl said.

It was Bill Wahl’s idea. The business was at that location on Main Street for 11 years.

In 1985, they moved everything to 142 S. Main St., a bigger space. It was a Laundromat when they bought it. Before that it was an A&P Supermarket and before that it was a livery.

The Wahls transferred their equipment and bought a bigger mixer. It stands about six feet tall and holds 120 quarts.

They bought a bigger oven that has four rotating shelves that hold three large baking trays. A bigger pan washer was added and more tables and racks to hold trays.

The choices in the shop’s glass cases today are nearly the same as the ones in 1974. There were two changes that lasted: fewer sweet rolls and more Danishes. In fact, there are 12 kinds of Danish.

Regarding what they make, she said, “We pretty much make everything from scratch.”

She said the price of ingredients always fluctuates. Nevertheless, the ingredients for their products are essentially the same now as they were at the start of the business.

“If you want sugar, this is where you get it,” Wahl said.

The bakery buys its sugar and flour in 50 pound bags and shortening in 50 pound cubes. Pasteurized eggs, without shells, are in 30 pound pails that hold about 20 dozen large eggs.

Wahl said their most popular items are bear claws, fried cinnamon rolls, apple fritters and doughnuts. She said they also get good feedback for their cakes.

In the beginning, Bill Wahl showed her what he knew about decorating. She also took a few courses at the Byrnes and Kiefer Co. when it was in Pittsburgh. Decorating is her specialty now.

She added, “Our cakes are all made from scratch. We make all our own butter cream.”

She has photographs of special cakes decorated in a variety of ways. Some are unusual for the designs and logos in the icing. Others catch the eye with their impressive layers and shapes or with the fine embellishments with icing. There are even photographs of doughnuts assembled to resemble tiered wedding cakes.

Wahl said the newest item they are doing for spring are “reveal cakes.” The customer brings the results of a pregnancy sonogram to the shop in a sealed envelope. No one knows the baby’s gender.

Wahl opens the envelope and makes a party cake that includes blue or pink icing between the layers. When the cake is cut, the color is revealed and everyone finds out together whether it’s a girl or a boy.

Bakers’ hours are demanding. Bill Wahl starts at 2 a.m. and continues until everything is prepared.

His favorite item to make are the Danishes, but he makes the cakes and breads, too. All the store’s rolls are shaped by hand. He also makes puff pastry from scratch for his lady locks, apple flips, cherry flips and pigs ears.

Carol Wahl works from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s a long day but made easier by the people who come into the shop and who have supported the business.

“My favorite part is waiting on customers,” she said.

That’s also the part that Marjorie Jackson likes best. She has worked with the Wahls for 24 years both in the front and the back of the bakery.

Jackson said it’s a friendly atmosphere.

“We’re selling good things. We’re selling happy things,” she said.

Wahl said it’s hard to get someone to come in at 4 a.m. as the other employee. That job has a lot of lifting, twisting and maneuvering.

“Everything is heavy,” Wahl said.

For example, a full-size baking tray can weigh four pounds before anything is on the tray. A pail of icing weighs 20 to 30 pounds.

Christmas is the bakery’s busiest season. Easter is also busy.

In the past few weeks, Wahl decorated cookies shaped like bunnies, eggs and chicks. She embellished bunny cakes. She adorned egg-shaped cakes with flowers. She made egg-shaped cakes resemble bunnies and chicks.

Molded Easter chocolates and various candy Easter eggs are among the few items that have been discontinued over the years. The Wahls decided to emphasize their other Easter items.

As Wahl iced 30 egg-shaped cookies, each about five inches end to end, the decorating tip of the pastry bag moved smoothly across the surface of each cookie leaving behind blue, yellow and pink designs.

It isn’t just work to her, she really does like decorating.

She also does airbrush designs in a special work area that has a table covered by squeeze bottles. Each holds a different shade of liquid food coloring. A small amount of color can be loaded into a special pen that is connected to an air compressor. The compressed air allows a fine spray of color for the designs.

Even with the business, the Wahls raised three children. It was especially busy when their three children were at home and participating in activities.

Along with everything else, the children got experience in the store.

“That was required,” Wahl said.

The children, now adults, have successful careers but only the oldest works in the food industry. He is an executive chef at Eleven Contemporary Kitchen on Smallman Street in Pittsburgh.

Wahl said the bakery business is unpredictable.

“You do your best guess for each day,” she said.

What has changed over the years is the competition for morning business. Wahl said in 1974 there weren’t any nearby convenience stores where people could get food, coffee and gas in one place.

“That’s all changed,” she said.

The Wahls have no retirement plans. They take it day-by-day and year-by-year.

Chefs say people eat with their eyes first. One could start filling up just looking at the goodies in Carol’s Pastry Shop with its cinnamon swirls, chopped nuts, icing spirals, yellow sugar sprinkles, chocolate jimmies, fruit fillings and beautiful shades of brown bread crusts.

In the back, trays and carts stand ready for the next round of baking. But even when there’s nothing in the oven, there is a lingering smell of deliciousness.