Cream&Sugar

BAY CITY, MI uptown Bay City’s Cream & Sugar Ice Cream Co. is back open for the 2023 season with limited-edition avors like peach cobbler made with Michigan-grown peaches and green peppermint Phoebe, perfect for St. Patrick’s Day.

The seasonal ice cream shop, open from March to October and located at 160 Uptown Drive, is known for its ice cream made with locally sourced ingredients and its freshly made bubble waf e cones. Other limited-edition avors listed on the Cream & Sugar website include honey lavender, lemon blueberry, red velvet cake and salted caramel.

“Some of them are past fan favorites that we’ve had, and some of them are brand new,” said Cream & Sugar Ice Cream Co. Manager Tim Mangan. “Of course, we have our peppermint Phoebe because it is March, and St. Patrick’s Day is coming up.”

Other limited-edition avors coming soon include caramel cashew and maple. Also new this year, Cream & Sugar will offer curated sundaes, including “Brownie Bomb,” “Berry

Burst,” and “Caramel Crunch,” and pints and quarts of ice cream to go.

Cream & Sugar is open from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.

JACKSON, MI

Chelsea Jones started baking as a hobby, but that hobby has since grown into a business known for a signature cake.

Jones, owner of Chelsea Cakes in Jackson, stumbled onto a Facebook post in 2016 of an image of a “Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake Cake.” She knew she could recreate the pink and crumbly cake, so she made it for her family. She posted a photo of her creation on Facebook and said she was blown away by requests to make it for others.

“All types of people from Jackson and even the surrounding areas were wanting the cake,” Jones said.

Since then, she said she has perfected the strawberry cake with her own original and secret recipe. It is layered with cheesecake, which, besides its look, makes it stand out. Many people call it gourmet or a delicacy, she said.

The cake is so popular among customers that people have requested it in cupcake form, Jones said. She also lls the cupcakes with cheesecake, she said.

“I don’t know if I ever go to the store and see a cupcake that says, ‘cheesecake lled,’” Jones said.

Jones’ business took off, prompting her to move out of her kitchen and into a brick-and-mortar building in November 2022. She has added several other avors of cupcakes and cakes to her collection, including chocolate peanut butter, turtle, banana pudding and luscious lemon.

All are lled with cheesecake.

“They say the cake tastes like heaven,” Jones said.

Chelsea Cakes also sells cups lled with cheesecake and cake crumbles, as well as banana pudding, which Jones said has been a top seller. She also specializes in wedding cakes, birthdays and fondant icing, she said.

Jones is planning an of cial grand opening of her business once the weather warms up, she said. While she has had increase in customers since moving into the building, she is looking forward to meeting more people, she said.