New Dessert Shop Serves Up Cinnamon Buns, Cookies and More

Spanishchef.net recommends these products

New Dessert Shop Serves Up Cinnamon Buns, Cookies and More

Baking has always been Elk Grove resident Terri Littleton’s therapy.

So after seven years of baking on weekends and selling her goods online while working full-time for ATT, Littleton opened her own dessert shop in Elk Grove.

Terri Does Dessert, 6616 Laguna Blvd. Ste. 120, opened in October.

How has business been since you opened?

It’s been good. It’s been going well. People are really coming by, and we have a lot of regulars, now. I have people that come in every couple of days and get German chocolate cake. Some people come in every day and get cinnamon rolls. A lot of them are neighborhood people. Then we have friends who come in and get their favorites.

How long did you have your online dessert business?

Six or seven years. It just started with friends and people I worked with, then there was some word of mouth and word of mouth and pretty soon I had a nice little following.

Then about a year-and-a-half ago, we went into a partnership with a café called Coffee Bridge, and I did his dessert for him. But then he went out of business in December of last year, so I just said, “Maybe we’ll try to do this on our own.”

Before that, I worked full-time for ATT.

These days, when so many businesses are failing and people are struggling in this tough economy, opening your own dessert shop is a risky thing to do. What prompted you to take that leap?

It is risky. (Baking) has been m passion for years and the good thing about the economy now is that the rents and leases are low, and landlords are willing to work with you a lot to get you into a space because they want the occupancy.

I read a lot of things that said in a bad economy there are two things people do: They eat sweets and they go to the movies.

And you know, sometimes you just have to step out on faith.

Where does your passion for baking come from?

My mom. My mom used to make German chocolate cake and that’s where I learned how to make it. She got tired of making, and I had to learn. Ever since then I’ve been baking.

Many years ago, around the holidays, I started doing cookie baskets. I was a single mom at the time so I made extra Christmas money doing that.

It kind of evolved over the years because people will ask, “Can you do this? Can you do that?” And then I try it.

Do you come up with all your own recipes?

It’s a combination. I have my own recipes, like my peach cobbler cheesecake. It’s a really popular one, and it’s something I made up. It took a good year to get it where I wanted it, and my husband was the taste tester so he doesn’t eat it much, now … He got really tired of it. But it’s my one signature dessert.

And then I find recipes, and I tweak them a little bit. I like trying new things.

What is your favorite dessert to make?

German Chocolate is my favorite to eat …

That’s kind of hard because I just make so much… Trying new recipes is always a fun thing for me to do. I like decorating cupcakes. I decorate some cakes, but cupcakes are fun. They’re small and you can put sprinkles and different fun stuff on them, so it makes it nice to do.

One of my most favorite things is decorating cookies. I do cookies in different shapes, like dresses and shoes, and I do ones with holiday themes.

What is your daily schedule like? Do you have to wake up at 4 a.m. to start baking?

I should, but usually I get up at 6 a.m. Some of the work I do the night before. I prep the cinnamon rolls the night before, then take them out of refrigerator and let them rise in the morning. Some cakes I can bake the night before and frost the next day.

But I don’t freeze anything.

I get a lot of people coming in and asking, “Do you bake your own dessert?” Yeah, we make them here. They’re really shocked that we actually make our own stuff and don’t ship anything in.

A lot of people say they make their own dessert and try ours, then they come back and say, “Now, I don’t have to make it.” Sometimes they tell me it tastes just like when they were a kid, and that’s the biggest compliment, especially when it comes from an older person.

Sweet Potato Cupcakes

1 cup butter

1.5 cup sugar

3 eggs
2 teas. Vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teas. Baking powder
1/2 teas. Baking soda
1/4 teas. Salt
2 teas. Cinnamon
17 ounce can sweet potatoes (mashed)

Prepare 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with mashed potatoes.

Divide batter into muffin cups. Bake about 20 minutes or until cupcakes spring back when lightly touch.

Cool and frost with your favorite frosting. Littleton recommends cream cheese frosting.

Dessert Recipes with Bill & Sheila

_____________________________________________________________________
If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest. This site is hosted by (click on the graphic for more information) dessert

Return from dessertto Home Page

If you want to increase your site popularity and gain thousands of visitors – check out these sites THEY ARE FREE. Spanishchef more than doubled its ‘New Visitors’ last month simply by signing up to these sites: