The next time you drive past Arctic Ice Cream on Arctic Parkway, you’ll notice a second sign on the property: Let Them Eat Cake Boutique Bake Shop.
Owners Joanne Canady-Brown from Ewing and Danielle Janelli from New Brunswick opened their cake shop in June, but the story goes back six years. The duo had long dreamed of opening a bake shop, but they didn’t act on the idea until this past October when a small ad in the Ewing Observer caught their attention.
So Canady-Brown made her first move. She responded to the ad inviting business owners to have a presence at Community Fest, October 29. But there was a glitch. She was not a business owner.
So Canady-Brown made her next move. Using a company called LegalZoom, she submitted the required paperwork, received approvals on state and federal levels, and the company was formed.
On the day of Community Fest, Canady-Brown and Janelli were ready. They had prepared 1,000 baked goods and were eager to make sales. But there was a glitch. They were faced with freezing temperatures, rain, sleet and snow. Not surprisingly, the turn-out was low, and at day’s end they packed up their tent with most of their goods unsold.
Canady-Brown went home wondering what to do with all the unsold items. It didn’t take her long to come up with a solution.
She made her move the next day when Halloween trick-or-treaters knocked on her door. When she passed out candy to the kids, she gave baked goods and business cards to their parents. Soon, her phone started ringing. Within two weeks, she and Janelli had booked six catering jobs.
Thrilled with the new business, but challenged by the commute to a church kitchen in North Jersey, Canady-Brown realized she needed to set up shop closer to home. It didn’t take her long to come up with an idea.
She made her next move when she walked into Arctic Ice Cream and asked owner Tom Green if she could rent space in an area of the building that had once been a luncheonette. A few days later, the bakers and Green made an agreement, and in February of this year, Let Them Eat Cake had a home in Ewing.
The next milestone would be their official opening day, set for June 16. Everything was looking up, until, in Janelli’s words, they had an oven catastrophe, not a small glitch for professional bakers. A new oven was needed. Buying a commercial oven is more time consuming than buying a home model, but they didn’t have time to spare.
After some of research, Canady-Brown made her next move. She found a store that was willing to sell her a floor model, and the Ewing bakers were baking again.
On opening day, the sun was shining, and Canady-Brown and Janelli were laughing, a far cry from that October day when sleet was falling and they were trying not to cry.
Catering theme-based parties gives Canady-Brown and Janelli the opportunity the to practice their specialty, the creative art of dessert styling.
One of their recent and very popular designs was a fifth anniversary cake designed for a couple who loves to travel. A rectangular yellow butter cake with chocolate frosting formed a suitcase. Edible patches were added representing places the couple had visited. Topping the suitcase was a globe made from a butter cake, covered with blue frosting for water and green frosting for continents. Images, sculpted items, textures and decorations were made from sugar concoctions called fondants and sugar gums.
In addition to cakes, the bake shop offers other sweets, including cupcakes, scones, French macaroons and more. Everything is made fresh daily from scratch. Anything not sold by day’s end is given to charity.
Let Them Eat Cake Boutique Bake Shop, 22 Arctic Parkway, Ewing (609) 394-2253. On the web: facebook.com/Letthemeatcakenj.
Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 8-5 pm. Saturday: 8-4 pm. Sunday: 8-3 pm.
