Heninger began making cookies, modifying favorite recipes handed down from her aunt and grandmother (and later, she said, from her mother-in-law). Heninger gave away the cookies freely, never expecting that anyone would actually pay for them. Soon large orders started rolling in, and she had no choice but to bake them at home. “Sometimes I’d meet clients in the Target parking lot to deliver their orders,” she said, laughing. It didn’t take long for Heninger to realize that she couldn’t fill all the orders from her home, so she moved her burgeoning business to her mother’s sandwich shop, where she said she began selling cookies and cupcakes from a small glass display case. “A lady came in and asked me if the cupcakes were for sale. I said, 'Yes.' She bought one, and then she came back the next day and bought 60 cupcakes for a birthday party. Everyone at the party loved them, and suddenly I started getting orders.” Heninger spent three years baking from her mom’s sandwich shop, Sub Station in downtown Bakersfield. “I would have to bake before my Sheila Heninger mom opened and bake after she closed. I did my first wedding there.” Finally, she said, when her cookie and cupcake business was taking on a life of its own, Heninger’s mom gently suggested that it was time for her to open her own shop, and, within a day, she found her current location at 1818 G St. Frosting Ink officially opened its polka dot doors in 2007 and has been moving full steam ahead ever since, providing 50 different flavors of cupcakes and planning to expand this year with a candy shop featuring retro, unique candies. Heninger starts her day early but with a little help from a special person. At 4 a.m., her husband, Alan, arrives first at the bakery to make the frosting and get the mixers warmed up and the cupcake pans lined before he heads to his own job. At 6 a.m., Heninger begins her day making all the cupcakes and cookies, getting everything ready before the shop opens at 11 a.m. She then spends the remainder of the day filling special orders or shopping for supplies. She returns home around 7 p.m. Exhausting work, yes, but paying off, evidently, because Heninger’s business caught the eye of Food Network executives looking for contestants to participate in “Cupcake Wars.” Heninger and 19-year-old daughter Alexis baked and battled in a wedding planner challenge, making it halfway toward the $10,000 prize. The episode first aired in January and can be seen in reruns. If you missed it, that’s OK. Heninger would be happy to share more details with you on G Street ... at her own “shop around the corner.”
“I never minded working for other people, but ultimately, I knew I wanted to work for myself.”
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