Mary and Chris Girmann own the Little Dutch Bakery in Mount Healthy. Chris' grandfather Frank Girmann started the bakery 75 years ago. It's been at its Hamilton Avenue location since 1954. Photos by BRANDI STAFFORD/The Cincinnati Enquirer

No one is Dutch at Little Dutch Bakery in Mount Healthy. German-American Frank Girmann opened the bakery 75 years ago and moved it to its present location on Hamilton Avenue in 1954.

"I think my grandfather or father (Frank Girmann Jr.) saw the name on a trip to Florida or something," says Chris Girmann, who operates the bakery with his wife, Mary.

As long as Chris can remember, Little Dutch has been making beehive coffeecakes, so named because the pastry is flavored with honey. In many ways, the beehive resembles another favorite Cincinnati breakfast treat called schnecken - except that it's lighter and less rich.

To make the coffeecake, Chris sprinkles dough with cinnamon and sugar, rolls it into a log shape and then cuts the dough crosswise into chunks. The dough goes into honey-and brown sugar-glazed pans and gets another dose of honey and brown sugar, along with a sprinkle of pecans. After the beehive comes out of the oven, Chris adds caramel or white icing or another of the customer's choosing.

"I'll ice it with chocolate if someone asks for it," he says.