4 minute read
The Sugar Cookie Craze
Everyone Loves Personalized Sugar Cookies!
By Karen Irvine Editor, ATOTK
There is a sugar cookie craze going on in the Kawarthas. I see friends ordering personalized sugar cookies for special occasions. Graduation, birthday parties, retirement, babies, weddings and every other milestone. You name it, people are eating this craze up. We spoke to some of the creators of these beautiful, personalized cookies. Are you getting hungry yet? Need a sugar rush?
Holly Bohnsack, April and August Bakery, has been baking for 2 years. She says, “I became obsessed watching cookie decorating videos on YouTube. My husband bought me a ton of decorating supplies as a creative outlet. I had no idea what I was doing but I had fun doing it. People started asking for custom orders and it just snowballed into a full time job. I had no idea this would happen and I wouldn’t have even considered myself artistic before any of this. I guess you do what you love and it shows.”
Holly has had a challenging year. She says, “When COVID hit, my two kids no longer had school or daycare and I was overwhelmed. I have faithful customers that honestly made it possible to open back up in June, but it’s been tough. With restrictions on gatherings, I’m not getting any large orders. I think any event based businesses are hurting right now.” To top it off, Holly broke her back on April 9th. “But I’m not ready to give up - this is what I want to do, to grow, to nourish.”
Another bakery is Emily Mae’s Cookies & Sweets owned by Jen Wight for the past 4 years. Jen says, “As a culinary kid, I’ve always had an interest in food, so I gave cookie decorating a go. I came across a tutorial on facebook on how to decorate sugar cookies!”
When COVID struck, Jen got creative. She started selling a DIY cookie decorating kit to give children an activity that offered something for them to look forward to (with a livestream video tutorial for them to decorate along with!) Jen also started a livestream tutorial called ‘Cookie Lookie’, where she decorates a set of cookies ‘live’ on Facebook. “We’d have viewers join in and they spend Friday nights with us (or Saturday afternoon in Australia!),” she says.
April and August
Emily Mae's
Emily Mae's
Being the smart ‘cookie’ that she is, Jen participating in community programs such as ‘Starter Company Plus’ and ‘Bear’s Lair’, becoming finalists in both, while gaining knowledge and experience.
Emily Boyko, owner of Butter Love Baking in Minden, has been baking sugar cookies since 2016. She says, “Before I started selling cookies my anxiety had peaked, I was having a really tough time, but it became a lot easier to manage after I started Butter Love. It turns out baking and having a creative outlet had an incredibly calming effect on me. In February 2018 I had my third baby and by the first week in March I was making cookies again, passing out packages with my baby on my hip. I am so grateful for the opportunity to do what I love, do what calms me and build a business all in one.“
Butter Love Baking
Butter Love Baking
Lisa Dixon, owner of Black Honey Bakery, has been baking sugar cookies for much longer. She says, “Traditionally cookies were exchanged at the Holidays, mainly Christmas and needed a shelf life of many weeks so a Royal Icing was a perfect preservation technique. In the last couple of decades sugar cookies have become popular for Weddings, Wedding Showers, Baby Showers & Parties.” The process is not a fast one. “We find the best way to create the ideal design are cookies rolled and baked. Then the icing after it is applied needs two days to cure.”
Black Honey Bakery
Jen Wight says, “Our business is more than decorated sugar cookies, they create experiences and memories, and we take part in some of the biggest days of our customers lives. The cookie world is an incredibly unique place to be in, it’s HUGE! Cookiecon is a thing and it’s like getting tickets to your favourite rock concert, selling out in minutes!”
April and August 705-868-4857 FB & Instagram @april_and_august2
Emily Mae’s 705-745-1161 www.emilymaes.com
Butter Love Baking 905-484-5642 www.butterlovebaking.com Black Honey Deserts & Coffeehouse www.blackhoneycafe.ca 705-750-0024
