Welcome to the Cronin Cakes & Sweets blog! For our inaugural post, I figured I would give the readers a glimpse in to my life, in and outside of cakes.
I'm Jess, lead baker and owner of the business. I do everything, from prep to baking, delivery to clean up (although a lot of the time my husband chips in here!). I'm a born-and-raised Vermonter, I love this little state so much that I could never leave it; travelling to weddings makes me fall in love with Vermont over and over again. I went to college here (groovy-UV) at the University of Vermont, and studied studio art. Right out of college, I interned at a local tech start-up where I still am today full time as a SEO manager. Baking is my creative outlet, a bustling side-hustle during wedding season. But, we'll get to baking further down in the post.
PC: Held in the Moment Photography
I got married in 2021, just barely after restrictions were lifted post-covid. I can empathize with couples in the planning process, as we planned our wedding in the midst of the pandemic, eagerly awaiting weekly updates from our governor to tell us whether or not we could actually have our wedding. That was easily the most stressful part of the process, and I am so glad our couples don't have to do that today. My husband Matt & I have two boys, 6 and 17, two hound pups and two cats. We like things in twos, apparently. We bought a house in St. Albans two years ago and really love our little city & town in Northern Vermont. It's the headquarters of Cronin Cakes & Sweets. Yes, I am a licensed and insured home bakery, which is really wonderful! I can bake sweets out of my home and don't have to worry about the overhead of a storefront (although who knows, one day!).
A lot of friends and clients have asked me how I got in to baking. When my youngest was 3, I started thinking about making him really fun birthday cakes. I began making them for friends and family several years later, after honing my skills through a whole lot of practice and many MANY YouTube tutorials. In 2017 I launched my business officially with a new website and listings on social media. For the first few years, the bread and butter (or cake and buttercream?) of my business was birthday cakes. I was cranking custom cakes out, building my clientele and unfortunately, burned myself out after a few years of underpricing myself and saying 'yes' to just about anyone that wanted a cake. In 2019, I decided to shift my business to weddings - a risky move, because I would be basically giving up the clientele I had built over the last few years. What I was finding is that I would book weddings 8-12 months in advance, then when former clients asked for a birthday cake just a month or two in advanced, I was already booked. So, I pulled the trigger and announced my business was going to be focused on large events.
The risk paid off. I was able to devote time to building my wedding portfolio, growing my menu, refining my recipes and most importantly - building relationships with my couples. Most people probably assume that weddings are a profitable business, and that was certainly true for me. But beyond that, I really enjoy being a part of such incredible events. The wedding vendors I've met over the years are some of the best in the business, and it's absolute magic what the right vendor team can do for their couples. I love traveling to the most beautiful venues and setting up a showstopper wedding cake, or a table of delicious wedding desserts. And with 1-2 weddings per weekend, I can be laser-focused on my couples and their weddings.
Aside from baking in the summer, gardening is my favorite. I have a cut flower garden at my home that is selfishly for me, but my clients are able to use on their cakes as well. I spend a lot of time with my family, but adore live music and travelling. My husband and I just returned from our 'honeymoon' in Paris & Santorini, Greece. We try to take our boys to Maine or the Cape in the summer, because they both love the sun, waves and lobster.
That's a bit about me! For subsequent posts, I'll focus more on informational stuff, but figured this was a good starting place
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