Simply Sweet by Jessica

June 10, 2016

Gourmet bakery treats and conscious coffee for your sweet tooth

Jessica Stubbs’ love for baking started close to home in 2012. Baking casually for family members and friends at church was something that Stubbs found immediately rewarding, so when some local nonprofit organizations and country clubs asked if she baked for special events, the answer was a swift yes. “Once they got wind of my talents in the kitchen, the start of my business was born!” Stubbs said.

CROWDED CAKES

Four years after launching her small homebased enterprise, demand had outgrown Stubbs’ kitchen, which often overflowed with cake pans, batter bowls, and, of course, trays of the delicious finished products. “Between the influx of summer and winter residents, and my very loyal local friends and customers, it was too much,” Stubbs said. She decided it was time to expand and relocate to downtown Petoskey. “I wanted to continue to ride the momentum for my products,” she said. Those products included Stubbs’ elegant fondant-covered wedding cakes and her extravagant dessert bars — long tables covered in a wide range of sweet treats — all of which will be available from her new location.

WELCOMING WHITE

In keeping with the wow factor of her offerings, the bakery-cafe itself looks a little like a wedding cake. Frosting-like mortar overflows from white bricks on an all-white façade; a flowery script sign above the front door welcomes customers. Inside, a 20-foot-long church pew rescued from an 1890s Upper Peninsula church shares space with tile floors and bistro tables made from reclaimed barn wood. A bakery case filled with pale baked goods is topped with flowers from Monarch Floral (Simply Sweet’s neighbor across the street), and classic white wooden chairs welcome just over a dozen guests at a time — just enough to make the place feel busy but not overcrowded. “The largest challenge will probably be time management,” Stubbs said, but if we’re super busy, that’s a great problem to have!”

CUPCAKES TO COFFEE

Many different desserts will be available at Simply Sweet every day. “Most of our desserts will be portioned in a mini size, so that you can order multiple items to try, and it will still be affordable and not overwhelming for the palate — or the waistline,” Stubbs said.

The mini-cupcakes are her most popular item so far, in keeping with America’s current cupcake trend; right behind are mini cannolis and macarons.

Beverages include fountain pop, lemonade, iced teas, and root beer floats made with vanilla bean ice cream made on-site. The bakery-cafe also will feature coffee selections from Redeeming Grounds in Washington, D.C., which Stubbs specifically selected as her coffee provider based on its community restoration work; the coffee seller partners with farmers in conflict zones to help transform coca (cocaine) fields into coffee farms. “They’re changing lives in Colombia by converting communities from a life of poverty and drugs to coffee farming and success,” she said.

is located at 324 E. Mitchell St. in downtown Petoskey, (231)- 420-3785. Find them online at facebook. com/simplysweetbyjessicapetoskey