Local Couple Look for Big Success with Little Cakes

Kelly Haggerty isn’t shy in expressing how she feels about the small pink cupcake in her hand.

“It’s absolutely delicious,” said the O’Fallon resident, eyeing the delectable strawberry-flavored treat.

She doesn’t have to taste it to know, either. Haggerty has been a loyal customer at this establishment since before the enterprise was even housed at 107 O’Fallon Plaza. The little bakery has been supplying cupcakes to a wide range of events, from Haggerty’s dinner parties to her sister’s wedding, going back about a year.

For Jaclyn Perkins, it’s all in a day’s work.

“Pretty much any event you have, we can customize it to the theme, the color or the shape you want it to be,” she said.

Perkins and her husband run Baby Cakes, a cupcake-centered baking operation that started in 2009 but only moved into its own storefront in December. The eatery offers 27 flavors, included daily – four regular, four rotated and a flavor of the month. Baby Cakes also offers full-sized cakes for weddings or other events. Coffee is another specialty in the 3,500-square-foot establishment which seats about 20.

There are also cake tops, cake balls dipped in chocolate and sugar cookies among other items. For those wanting something sweeter and less substantial, there is even a frosting shot, which is just what it sounds like – a cup of straight frosting.

“Some people don’t want the cake,” Jaclyn said. “They just like the icing.”

Christopher Perkins, who handles most of the bakery’s business affairs, said he has a couple of favorite varieties. One is banana cream and the other is May’s flavor of the month, chocolate-covered strawberry cupcake.

“It was a really big seller for Valentine’s Day,” he said. “We’ve brought it back for Mother’s Day.”

Cupcakes are actually becoming a trend at weddings, Jaclyn said. It’s easier because no one has to cut the cake and it also offers more variety for guests.

Not that Baby Cakes can’t do a traditional birthday or wedding cake – or some non-traditional ones as well. Jaclyn remembers putting together an unusual snake-shaped cake.

“We also had a toilet bowl one once which isn’t very appetizing to think about,” she chuckled.

Jaclyn said customers seem to like the distinctive texture and taste of Baby Cakes baked goods.

“Just from the website reviews we’ve gotten that people like how moist they are,” she said, adding that people are also drawn to the cupcakes' unique variety.

 She says there is a method to keeping them from becoming too dry, though she won’t give the company’s secret away.

In any event, Jaclyn, who said she’d been baking for years before doing it professionally, said she loves the job.

“No two are ever the same,” she said of her creations. “I love to see whatever we come up with decorating.”

The Perkins eventually hope to open a deck with outdoor seating. Christopher believes that business will increase as the spring wears on into summer though he said it’s hard to judge this early what the busiest season will be.

“What we have noticed during our short amount of time here is that holidays are really big,” he said. “We get a lot of weekend and holiday orders. I’m really thinking that just from what we’ve seen so far the warmer weather is going to bring people out.”

Baby Cakes also runs a "happy hour" promotion offering special deals on baked goods from 4-7 p.m. every Friday.

One thing’s for sure. Business has picked up, said Jaclyn, though some like Haggerty are carryovers from their pre-storefront days.

“We saw a lot of customers that ordered with us two years prior through email and phone but we’ve gotten more walk-in traffic, people ordering special cupcakes,” Jaclyn said. “We have a lot of regulars now.”

Christopher said that he thinks word of mouth has started to get around and traffic is on the rise, particularly since their location is on the north side of Interstate 70 which Christopher feels is underserved in terms of bakeries.

He said the couple loves O’Fallon, where they’ve lived for almost a decade.

“We like the hometown feel that it has,” he said.

Interestingly, the Perkins have taken the famous old adage to heart. Neither has quit their day job. Both work at AT&T. Jaclyn often stops by at sunrise to get a little baking done before heading off to her other occupation. The pair frequently drop by to handle bakery affairs at the end of the day as well. The operation is open from 6 a.m.-7 p.m. every day but Sunday and is staffed by three full-time employees.

It may not be the easiest schedule but it seems to energize the couple in the end.

“Your sleep time is definitely precious but it’s the passion of making it happen, making it work,” Christopher said.