Baking is often thought of as a way to keep family traditions alive, and Cheri Kane’s Sweet Chericakes and Confections is another testament to that truth. “Both my grandma and my mom, they were bakers,” Kane says. Her mom and grandma baked for friends and family, but Kane decided to expand her horizons a few years ago, turning her skills into a sweet business for birthday parties and weddings. “I think I’ve done 25 weddings,” says Kane. “And it’s just a hobby.” Kane, who works full-time at the nonprofit Cerenity Senior Care, promotes her business through word of mouth, and photos of her delectable creations can be seen on her Facebook page. Whether it’s cupcakes, cookies, cakes or cheesecakes, Kane is happy to tell you, “I can do pretty much everything!”
Kane started baking as a child. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve been comfortable in the kitchen baking,” she says. “It’s just something I like to do.” She was always the guest bringing baked goods to gatherings of family and friends, and from there, it grew. Her list of special event treats includes Hello Kitty cupcakes, a bird-themed wedding cake with matching cupcakes (with wooden stands hand made by her husband, Jeff), My Little Pony cupcakes, and basically any other character or theme you can think of.
She has also started doing baby reveal cakes, dyeing the cake pink or blue depending on the gender of the baby. “I’ve actually gotten the note from the doctor because the parents don’t want to know until they cut into it what they’re having,” Kane says. After the reveal, smash cakes for baby’s first birthday are always a hit.
Some new recipes are born through curiosity, some through mistakes, and sometimes both, she says—you might even call her a master at taking a potential disaster and turning it into a tasty treat. Take her pancake breakfast cupcakes, which she has shipped with a little dry ice to as far away as California. While making them for the first time, she had an idea of what she wanted, but once they’d been in the oven for a while she noticed something wasn’t right—she had forgotten to add the butter. Immediately she knew they would be too dry, “I’m like, well, OK, how can I do this?” So she took the melted butter and poured it over the baked cupcakes. The end result is a vanilla cupcake with no butter or shortening in the batter. When they come out of the oven, she drizzles a mix of maple syrup and butter over the top, then finishes them off with maple buttercream frosting and candied bacon. “Yeah,” she says, “they’re pretty tasty.”
Jenny Godfrey will vouch for Kane’s abilities; she’s used her baking services for her son’s birthday parties, a wedding shower and her own wedding. “Working with her is always amazing,” Godfrey says. Kane takes requests and will even suggest ways to make them better; she also has a great handle on how much cake will feed how many people. Her cakes, says Godfrey, are to die for.
Kane is also a ribbon winner at the Minnesota State Fair. This past summer was her sixth year of entering the Great Minnesota Get-Together’s competition. The first time she entered with a cookie cup filled with salted chocolate and she won a third place ribbon. “First time in I won a ribbon, and that gave me the fever,” Kane says. After that, she entered her bacon macadamia white chocolate cookie, and got a score just short of a ribbon. So she entered it again. And again. Last year was her fifth year entering that cookie, and each year the score went up, getting closer to a ribbon. “I’m not giving up on this cookie,” Kane says—and at the 2014 Minnesota State Fair, she finally won her fifth ribbon.
When collecting her ribbon, the “Blue-Ribbon Baker” Marjorie Johnson was there and asked Kane to show her what she brought. Meeting a national baking icon was the icing on the cake for Kane, who says Johnson told her to just keep doing what she’s doing.
“It’s just so much fun,” Kane says. After a tough day at work she’ll come home and just bake. “Hand-soften the butter, slam some stuff around,” she says. It’s a bit like therapy, which is maybe why families love passing it along.
Though both her mom and grandma are gone, Kane has the recipes to keep their memories alive. “Some of my mom’s recipes are typed on a typewriter. And to see my grandma’s handwriting …” Some are scribbled on the backs of receipts or whatever was nearby at the family potluck, a tangible piece of the past. “I’m privileged to have those.”
That privilege is benefiting her family and friend—and friends of friends—bringing sweet treats and smiles. And lucky for us, Kane says, “I could be baking all the time.”
