Hannah Cartwright's cakes and other creations are homemade in more ways than one.
The owner of Hann's Homemade indeed makes everything she sells from scratch. But she also makes everything with as much care as she would if she were the customer, she told 水果派AV.
"If someone orders from me for a special event, I'm going to act like it's my special event," she said. "I've put so much time and learning into the recipes I use, recipes I love and think are great."
Cartwright, 28, a Cato native who now lives in Elbridge, ran Hann's Homemade from her home for six years before opening a storefront in the former Maggie's Pies & Pasta in Auburn in February 2021. Her cakes, cupcakes and decorated sugar cookies are in too much demand for her to have anything for sale there, but she's happy to take orders when she's open Wednesdays through Sundays.
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Baking, and especially decorating, has been a passion of Cartwright's since she was a child. She's self-taught, though she has worked at Camerons Bakery in Auburn, the bakery at the city's Wegmans and Lasca's, where she sold her cupcakes. That passion was also inspired by the rising popularity of baking over the last decade, with shows like "Cupcake Wars" and "The Great British Bake Off."聽
"The different things you can do with cakes and cookies is crazy," she said. "It's fun to learn and fun to do. It can be hard, but it's very fun."
Cartwright has seen her share of challenging orders, particularly in the past year due to word of mouth. They include a cake with polar bears and hot air balloons for a gender reveal party, and another with a puppy that she felt "really nervous" about because it was one of her first orders in her storefront. With two tiers and intricate fondant icing, those types of orders take about 10 hours.
In a Facebook review in March, customer Lily Monahan said the baby shower cake she ordered from Hann's Homemade almost made her cry.
"I thought it was the cutest thing ever," Monahan said of the cake, which featured a white bowtied bunny on top. "We also saved the bunny to freeze (because) I just couldn't let go of it."
Before she could face those baking challenges, Cartwright had to face a banking one. She submitted her offer for her storefront in January 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the approval of her loan until July. After that, renovating the Burt Avenue building required about seven months of work. Hann's Homemade is just her as well, though she hopes to hire employees in the future.
She has the demand to support that, between weddings, birthdays, graduations, showers and other events. Cartwright has some availability this summer, she said, but she advises placing orders about a month ahead. That's not just because of the number of orders she's balancing, but because she wants to be able to take the time to make people what they want, the way she would want it.
"I love making pretty things for people," she said. "I just get excited to see people get excited over what I make."
Lake Life Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter .