REVIEWSCommunity
Q + A with Sarah Rees – Baker, Sarah’s Sweets Toronto
Delicious, Delectable, Detailed! Three words to describe Sarah’s custom creations featuring Cakes, Cookies and Cupcakes. Before we met Sarah, we had tried her custom cookies at our very own Christmas event where our partner and mortgage broker Emily Miszk hired her to make cookies the kids could decorate. They were a hit! Coincidently we work out at the same gym F45 New Toronto and put the face to a name and boom we have an interview 😊 All sweets are peanut and tree nut free!
Q. Hi Sarah, tell us a little about yourself and how you got started making such creative treats?
A. I am 28 years old and I am a mother to two boys, aged 8 and 5. In November of 2018 I made my first cake for a friend (a mermaid one), and through word of mouth it all started. The following month, just before Christmas, the Lakeshore Mom’s Facebook page started asking around for decorated sugar cookies – and gingerbread – for their childrens’ classmates and for Christmas parties, and within a week, I sent out 250 cookies. I happened really fast, and it really just took off from there!
Q. Describe the creation process?
A. It has taken quite some time to organize myself the way I want it to be, but it goes a lot like this: When I receive an for cookies I like to start 2 days before handing them to the client. Baking the cookies 2 days before (especially when I have quite a few orders that week), decorating them the day before handing them out to make sure the icing sets. For cakes, I like to bake in the beginning of the week to freeze the layers, so I can get right to decorating them the day before handing them out.
Q. Where do you get the inspiration from?
A. I get a lot of my inspiration from more local bakers and decorators that I follow on Instagram. I also like to browse ideas on Pinterest, but sometimes there’s a few orders where I let my creativity guide me in what the want, even if it’s just a colour theme they want.
Q. Do you have a team of people helping you?
A. Just me, myself and I! Okay, sometimes my fiance, Jon, will help me bag cookies from those large orders!
Q. Who is your ideal clientele?
A. I really do enjoy catering to local families. Seeing their children happy with my baked goods are all I could ever want!
Q. Do you deliver to all GTA?
A. Currently, I am a pick-up only business.
Q. Any big projects you are excited about and can share?
A. On our tenth anniversary this past July, Jonathan and I were supposed to get married but Covid has delayed that. When we do get married, I of course am making our wedding cake! I am going to be making a two -tier naked lemon cake with my original vanilla buttercream frosting.
Q. You are so creative, what else can you make?
A. I make a DELICIOUS cinnamon bun, they’re everyone’s favourite (including mine). I started out just making sugar cookies, I have a gingerbread cookie for Christmas time, cakes (vanilla, chocolate, lemon and red velvet recipes), brownies and funny enough, I still have yet to find the perfect chocolate chip recipe – I like them flat and chewy!
Q. You reside in South Etobicoke, how long have you lived here? What do you like about it? What can be improved?
A. I am originally from Hamilton, but moved to Toronto 10 years ago after high school. We have lived in Mimico for 4 and a half years, but we have also lived in Long Branch. We love being surrounded by families, being at the lake, the wonderful parks in the area, the coffee shops and how everything is in walking distances – we really just love it here. I think it would be great to have a few more asian restaurants in the area. We have always talked about how a Vietnamese restaurant would be great here. And as we are still renting in the area, we really hope one day we can own in Mimico and it may be better for first time buyers.
Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us! We look forward to trying more of your desserts in the future. For anyone looking to order custom cakes, cupcakes or cookies contact Sarah at: sarahssweetsto@gmail.com You can see her work on Instagram @sarahssweetsto
