Local bakeries offering unique ways to keep kids entertainedDate: 3/24/2020 GREATER SPRINGFIELD – Families around Western Massachusetts are stuck at home during a difficult and unique time. Local business owners around the region are working hard to provide for their customers and keep kids busy throughout the weeks they will be at home.
Reminder Publishing reached out to several area businesses that are finding sweet, creative ways to help families stay engaged and entertained.
Pete’s Sweets
Peter Gray, who owns Pete’s Sweet at 32 Shaker Road in East Longmeadow, said he’d had the idea to offer cookie and cake kits for a while and the Governor Charlie Baker’s orders helped him transition into the sales.
He said while “the safety of our staff and safety of our clients is of utmost importance,” he still wanted to provide people with a way to stay busy while stuck at home.
“We wanted to offer something to the community to help keep their kids busy, something that can buy some time, something fun. They can decorate and then eat it,” he explained. Gray said so far, the kits were “going smoothly” and they had sold quite a few upon launching them.
Each week, Gray said, a new design for the cake kit would be announced. The first cake kit was an underwater theme and included Swedish Fish candies, Goldfish crackers, blue frosting, fondant and sprinkles. The second cake kit was a melted ice cream theme. The ice cream kit included pink and yellow frosting, sprinkles, an ice cream cone and a cupcake to create the illusion of ice cream. Additionally, each cake kit will include a six-inch cake and instructional pamphlet.
Cookie kits include four sugar cookies, royal icing and decorative toppings. Gray said he’s hoping to offer a “different design and style of cookie each week.”
Gray added that he is trying to make the kits very easy for families to use, and purchasers shouldn’t need special equipment or tools to complete the kits. “You don’t need to supply anything. The cake is already baked, frosting is already colored,” he said. “We don’t want to make this difficult or so you have to get something at the store.”
While it would be “helpful” to have an item such as a rolling pin, Gray said it could easily be improvised, and laughed as he gave an example of a customer using a wine bottle as a rolling pin.
He said while both kits have proven popular, the cake kit seems to be selling slightly better. Gray said he believes this is because the cakes are frozen, making them “easier to frost.”
Cake kits cost $30, while cookie kits are $20. Gray said the price of the cake kit may have to go up slightly as ingredients become more difficult to find or go up in price, but he hopes to keep them $35 and under. Cookie and cake kits can be ordered by calling the shop at 525-6062. Gray said customers are able to pay for their kits over the phone. The shop is also offering curbside pickup, so customers don't even need to leave their cars.
Theme Cakes by Joelene
Joelene Guzzo, who owns Theme Cakes by Joelene at 2341 Boston Road in Wilbraham, said she had to cancel numerous orders for birthday parties and events due to the restrictions around gatherings. In the midst of events being canceled, Guzzo said she received a call from a father who still wanted to celebrate his daughter’s birthday, but didn’t know how. “He sounded very frustrated with the situation. He wanted to do something, just had no idea what,” she explained.
She said she thought, “How can I make people happy?” She started by making cupcakes with a toilet paper design, and general bathroom themed cupcakes. “I sold hundreds, it just makes people laugh,” she said, laughing. Guzzo said she was inspired to start selling cake decorating kits when she was asked for a small cake with decorations and other supplies.
Guzzo said she has received a large, positive response from people interested in buying the kits. The cake kits, she explained, are not just for kids, but for people of all age groups, including those who regularly attended her Frost and Sip events. “There’s people quarantined in their homes, [they’re] missing out on the Sip and Frost,” she said. “It’s a fun thing that people want to try to do, and if you have all the basics why not?”
The cake kits cost $30 and include a six-inch cake that is lightly frosted, fondant, a piping bag with a decorating tip, buttercream frosting, sprinkles and instructions. Guzzo said customers have the choice of chocolate or vanilla cake, the color of their frosting and the color of their fondant. While some tools like a cake spreader or a lazy susan are helpful, she said no special tools are needed to be able to decorate, and items such as butter knives can be used instead. She added that for $5, the kits are available for delivery within a 10-mile radius.
She plans to “come up with more themes,” that cater to all age groups. “I want to make sure it’s for all ages,” Guzzo said. She added that if anyone has ideas for themes, she’s willing to work with them to make it a reality. Ultimately, Guzzo said she just wants to make people happy with the cake kits.
“It takes your mind off of everything too. It just takes you into a happy place, I hope I can do that for people,” she said.
Cakes kits can be ordered by calling the shop at 279-2253 or by contacting her via Facebook. Kits are available for order when Theme Cakes by Joelene is open. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Ginger Baker
Springfield resident Niki Moran is a baker who creates culinary confections out of her licensed residential kitchen. Normally, Moran said she offers a variety of cookie decorating classes, flash sales and pre-orders for holiday treats.
So instead of offering classes during a time when social gatherings are limited to no more than 10 people, she decided to offer her customers take home cookie decorating kits instead. Moran offered 60 St. Patrick’s Day themed cookie kits for her first round of kits. She plans to offer around the same quantity each time she announces a new theme.
Moran said she’d received a positive response to the kits, and her second kit, which was a dinosaurs and unicorns theme, sold out in seven minutes. When she added 20 more kits to her website, she said they sold out just as quickly.
She said she plans to continue offering the kits as long as she has the materials to continue baking. However, with stores in short supply of some products she’s not sure how long that will be. Until then, she will keep offering them to her customers.
Kits cost $10 and come with three colors of frosting and three cookies that Moran outlines with frosting. She described it as coloring, but with frosting and cookies.
Kit themes and restocks will be announced via Facebook and are able to be ordered on her website at www.thegingerbaker.net/cookiekits.
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