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Date: 4/4/2022
WARE – While going through a transitional period in her life, owner of Cupcakes & Confections by Jana, Jana Hayden, decided she wanted a career where she could make sweets and make people happy.
Going through a separation from marriage and having three small children, Hayden found herself at a place where she was almost never leaving her home. As she was home watching television, a commercial came on and someone was decorating cakes. Hayden said her reaction was that cakes and sweets make people happy – she was going to pursue a career in baking.
Hayden went to Lincoln Culinary Institute in Connecticut, interned at the UMass Bake Shop in Amherst and worked in different restaurants doing weddings and banquets. Currently, she works as a breakfast and lunch line cook. It wasn’t until three years ago that Hayden decided she really enjoys bringing happiness to other people with cakes. She got her license and started Cupcakes & Confections by Jana to see where it would go.
“I saw that baked goods brought other people joy, so I thought maybe seeing other people happy, it would help me feel better and it 100 percent worked. My recent business growth is helping me grow as a person,” Hayden responded.
Over the last six months Cupcakes & Confections by Jana has taken off to the point where she can leave her restaurant job to focus solely on her business, Hayden told Reminder Publishing. Hopefully, she said the plan is to be baking full-time by the end of April. Right now, she is limited in the number of orders she can take each weekend due to working her full-time job.
Cupcakes & Confections by Jana is a licensed residential bakery on Church Street in Ware specializing in custom cakes, cupcakes, pies, cookies and dipped confections. The number one selling cake is the Chocolate Peanut Butter Blast – a chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream, Reese’s peanut butter cups and chocolate drizzle.
Anything people want as a sweet treat; Hayden will create it. She’s added dog cakes to her repertoire and getting inquiries every day for dogs. A customer posted a picture on the Ware forum on Facebook of a special cake Hayden made for a local dog’s sixth birthday.
“The dog cakes have become very popular,” Hayden replied. “All of my feedback so far has been super positive. I get messages all the time telling me how happy people are. The goal is to just keep people happy, that’s it.”
Hayden has a limited Easter menu out with carrot patch brownies, Easter themed cupcakes and cake truffles. She shared she has “a lot of projects coming her way” with a website in the works. Hayden is pairing up with a local business to do a bridal event, working on an allergy-free and keto menu and has a campground that wants her to teach cupcake and cookie decorating class. She’s also a part of the Ware Business and Civic Association where she can become more involved in the community and help people.
“I love seeing people smile. When I hand a customer their cake, their whole face lights up and then they send me a picture of whoever the cake was for and their faces lit up. That’s what keeps me going,” Hayden. “We’ve gone through so much over the last few years and there’s so much going on in the world. If I can make someone’s day a little bit better with just a cake or just a muffin, I’ll do it.”
For more information or to place an order with Cupcakes & Confections by Jana, email cupcakesconfections@aol.com or call 461-5085. Orders can be made by text any time of the day. Orders by phone call can be made between 9 a.m.-6 p.m.