Americans and nostalgic expats can now buy mosbolletjies and koeksisters at the Cape Dutch Bakery which recently opened in  Maryland, USA. Other South African delicacies such as rooibos tea and ouma beskuit are available at the bakery, which has a distinct Cape-Dutch feel to it and a comfy tea room. 
         Expats embarking on the 18 mile great trek  from Washington DC, will  encounter the  former SA Springbok Power lifter Kevin Fraser behind the counter of  his  bakery decorating cakes  with exquisite precision. That's him on the right outside his bakery. 
        Kevin  represented South Africa at the World Powerlifting Championships in Dayton, Ohio in 1987 in the heavy weight division.  He broke the SA bench press record with a lift of over 560 pounds. 
        Bakery duty called when the 230 pound rugby player and weight lifter was peeping over his wife's shoulder at a cake decoration class which she attended. He has been in the Washington area for the past five years, making meat pies, biltong, boerewors, and other SA delicacies. 
        Kevin is originally from Cape Town where he grew up Newlands. He joined SA Airforce at Swartkops and later managed a steak house in Bellville called "The Oklahoma" before he leaving for the States. 
        He ran a catering business from his home in Maryland until he ran out of space. Kevin 
snapped up the opportunity for new premises and opened the bakery. He did all the refurbishing himself. 
        The bakery marks Kevin's graduation  from his kitchen in his 19th century Accokeek farmhouse to retail premises  just half a  mile up the street, now proudly displaying its sign, "Cape Dutch Bakery." 
        The bakery does 2 bakes a day for the a.m. and p.m. local traffic and is a popular stop-off for local Americans wanting some real bread -- not the local air-filled white loaf  that tastes like puffed up paper. 
        Kevin makes a weekly run into Washington to deliver his assorted meat pies to various embassies -- like the British, Zambian, Botswana  and Lesotho to name a few. He does not get orders from the SA embassy but the staff is often spotted buying Kevin's products at the British embassy tuck shop. 
         The  bakery provides employment in an area which is less developed than Washington. One of his bakers is Marie Knobel, who is well known in the area for being an expert cake decorator. Also helping is Verna Bannister, full time behind the counter.
         Marie is the president of the Maryland Cake Club and also the local representative of the International Cake Exploration Society. 
        She  taught Fraser's wife,  Amanda,  when  she took a paid class in cake decorating a couple years ago. Kevin could not afford to pay for the course but asked if he could peek over Amanda's shoulder in class. 
          Kevin loves rugby and refs local games.  He is head coach for the Severn River Rugby Club in Annapolis, Maryland, home to the US Naval Academy. 
          Despite his brutish look, girth and huge thick fingers, Kevin makes the most delicate edible orchids and other foliage for the cakes sold at the bakery. 
        The Cape Dutch Bakery also sells milktart, rusks, plain and buttermilk and  muesli rusks will follow soon. The fudge sold in the jar on the counter top is the real stuff -- good old standard S.A. fudge which is unobtainable in the States. 
         For more information, contact reporter@erols.com