bake - April 2017 - 34

cakes

Mother's Day Ideas
As bakeries, pastry shops and restaurants approach the Mother's

The cupcake is a chocolate chip-studded yellow cake that's lined

Day (May 14) holiday, it's helpful to recognize and respond to one

with its own cookie crust. The topping is a brown sugar frosting

emerging trend. Retailers are witnessing a shift in demand away

that's been dusted with crunchy cookie pieces.

from traditional Mother's Day cakes and more toward inventive
"small-bite" desserts.

Sprinkles owner Candace Nelson says she used other mash-ups
as inspiration for this one. "You know I'm a fan of a great mash-up,

"Our orders for that holiday lean towards macarons, chocolates

and since Sprinkles is famous for its ice cream cupcake mash-ups,

and pastry rather than cakes," says William Leaman, owner of

why not a cookie cupcake mash-up," she says. "Here, I take two

Bakery Nouveau in Seattle.

of my favorite things in the world, cupcakes and chocolate chip
cookies, and make them one."

Lately, Bakery Nouveau receives more customer orders for
desserts geared for smaller family and friends, as opposed to

At Piccione Pastry in St. Louis, sweet and savory choices grab the

large orders and custom decoration requests. Their situation

spotlight for its annual Mother's Day brunch, including Piccione

mirrors an industrywide trend toward smaller, indulgent desserts.

benedicts, frittatas ingredients, and an assortment of the shop's
signature pastries, mini cannoli and Italian cookies.

"We want to be able to make great tasting desserts at a reasonable cost, so that's what we focus," Leaman says. "This lets us still

"We're excited to channel our history and Italian culture for

do some fancy or custom work here and there, or other higher

Mother's Day," says Sandia Hoormann, Piccione's pastry chef. "Our

production cost work, without it impacting our overall margins."

original recipes have been passed through the Piccione family for
almost 100 years. We work hard to provide guests with unique

There are all sorts of ideas you can bring to your bakery or pastry

and seasonal twists on authentic Italian cookies, pastries, cakes

shop that offer ﬂavorful options in a scaled down version of

and more."

dessert.
The Seasonal Factor
For example, Bake'n Joy suggests one way to entice customers

New research from Mintel reveals that nearly seven in 10 (67

with signature ﬂavors is by starting with Bake'n Joy's scoop

percent) consumers enjoy being able to consume speciﬁc

cake batters and whoopie pie cream and add a few items off

seasonal ingredients year-round. Still, while Americans want

the shelf for delectable dessert items. Salted caramel, black

the option of seasonal food and drink throughout the year, over

forest, grasshopper and pink peppermint are among a few

three-quarters (78 percent) consider seasonal dishes to be a treat

ﬂavor ideas to get started.

and more than two in ﬁve (42 percent) say they are willing to pay
more for a seasonal dish when dining out.

Another inspiring product idea for Mother's Day comes from
Sprinkles Cupcakes, which recently unveiled its newest innovation,

Seasonal food present a welcome opportunity for consumers

Cookie Cupcakes, sure to be a success for Mother's Day and other

to extend a special holiday like Mother's Day for sunny summer

spring occasions.

ﬂavors. Three in four consumers agree that dining out is a great

34 < APR 2017 | bakemag.com

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