[title subtitle=”WORDS Jennifer Burchett
IMAGES courtesy Kristen Lacewell, Sugar and Lace”][/title]
Autumn is a special time of year for Kristen Lacewell. While many people specialize in tricks and treats, hers is the business of sugar and spice and everything nice. Meet the face behind Sugar and Lace Custom Cookies, and she’s ringing in the season with a fresh batch of autumn delight.
“Halloween was the first holiday I made cookies for, so it always gets exciting this time of year,” shares Kristen, who is celebrating two years of being in the cookie business.
It was in the fall of 2018 that she began perfecting her cookie craft. For months before she launched her sweet treats, she baked countless cookies (much to her husband’s delight) as she tried to get the perfect sugar cookie down to an art for her first customer. And that she did. It’s hard to believe, but without any formal training in drawing or baking, Kristen managed to combine the essence of both into one truly customized cookie.
“I started practicing in August of 2018, two months before I started selling. My boss at the time wanted some cookies. That’s how I started Sugar and Lace.”
Her then boss, Corina Matthew of Matthew Chiropractic, got what she wished for in Kristen’s cookies. Kristen delivered on sweets that were not only delicious but were just about as cute as they come. One look at them and you know she’s created something special.
From there it only grew.
“At first it was family and friends who bought my cookies. I never thought people would want to pay me for cookies! I never intended on it being a business. But it just grew organically,” elaborates Kristen while reminiscing about the start of Sugar and Lace.
After making cookies for her boss, friends, and family, word quickly spread of Kristen’s talent. Soon strangers were reaching out to her via social media and placing orders. For Kristen, it was quite the blessing, in more ways than one.
“Baking cookies really became a stress relief when I started. When I was a kid I was a dancer, so that creativity was always there. But while working, the creativity didn’t have an outlet. So baking was a natural fit.”
As Sugar and Lace took off, Kristen cherished the quiet time she had to decorate the cookies. Put into every batch is an equally sweet dose of her creativity. The process itself has many steps that seem to blend so well with the subtleties of who Kristen is as a person; sweet, patient, dedicated, and sophisticatedly artistic.
Kristen begins every cookie with her top-secret sugar cookie recipe. Though she does offer a chocolate chip cookie cake for customers to purchase, her custom cookies are all based on the same sugar cookie recipe.
After baking the cookies to a perfect temperature that makes them not too hard, not too soft, but just right, comes the creative part. When the cookies are removed from the oven they cool for roughly eleven hours. Once cooled, every cookie receives what those in the business refer to as the ‘flood.’
No, this isn’t where this sweet story takes a turn down horror lane. Far from it (unless you don’t like icing)! The ‘flood’ refers to the solid bottom layer of icing that coats the top of each cookie. Though the cookies may differ in size and color, the flawless flood is a must and is the base for the decorations that top each confection.
“Some people give me a theme or an event, and I come up with the rest. But all of my cookies are original.”
True to her word, Kristen invests upwards of fifteen hours baking and decorating every order she receives, ensuring that her customers get what they’re looking for, and ensuring that her craft remains true to her artistry. Every cookie that comes out of Kristen’s kitchen is hand decorated with a precision that stands out among the rest. They are so intricately beautiful, it’s almost a shame to eat them.
“It’s hard to pick my favorite theme. I mean, I really like the fall. Anything that allows me to test my creativity and try something new is always fun.”
For a gal like Kristen, excitement really sparks when new themes come her way. She recalls baking Bob Dylan cookies earlier this year. “That was really cool,” she smiles.
Over the past two years, Kristen has received countless orders, and her venture has acquired an amazing following from the community. In fact, her monthly calendar is usually full within one week of opening up orders.
“I release bookings on the first of the previous month,” explains Kristen. By the second day of September, October was nearly booked.
But don’t worry. For people who don’t place their order in time, cookie cakes are a great way to fill your belly in the meantime. “Cookie cakes are an easy way to serve more people,” smiles Kristen.
As it turns out, people like ordering cookies during quarantine. “People order cookies for their friends and family, sort of as a ‘thinking of you’ treat,” Kristen joyfully explains.
With all of the uncertainty surrounding work and life during a pandemic, in the spring of 2020 Kristen set her mind to growing Sugar and Lace to its fullest. But eventually, when job security and a need for self care reappeared in her life, she knew she had to tweak her business model and set limits on the number of orders she accepted.
“All spring and summer I took as many orders as I could because at that time I didn’t know what was going to happen with my job. I would come home from work at Mercy Hospital and work for Sugar and Lace from six o’clock in the evening until midnight. But I started getting tired.”
Like many of us, Kristen came full circle with the realization that her mental health and self care were essential during the pandemic. Today, she has struck the perfect balance between work, play, and some seriously delicious baking skills.
This little girl who grew up loving her Easy-Bake Oven has grown into an amazing baker and an extremely talented cookie artist. To order a batch of Sugar and Lace cookies is to order up a helping of dedication and love, and that’s something we all need a taste of these days.
For Kristen, the future of Sugar and Lace is bright. And although she is taking time to invest in her career, she certainly entertains the idea of a storefront one day. “In the future universe, a coffee and cookie shop would be cute. It is good to have dreams,” Kristen shares.
Visit Sugar and Lace Custom Cookies on Facebook, or online at sugarandlacecookies.square.site.
