3-minute read
Mel’s Desserts and Delights has been a longtime dream for Melissa Johnston, 37, of Lakeland.
Johnston, a Polk County native, quit her office job in 2019 to run a bakery out of her kitchen.
A little over five years later, she opened her first storefront in April, at 2080 E. Edgewood Dr., near the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 98 South, in the Edgewood Center Plaza. She shares the space with Magnolia Popcorn Company.
Johnston said she loves the location as it has a lot of foot traffic.
“I’ve always dreamed about having that storefront bakery where I have something in the display case everyday and I’m able to bake every day and make custom cakes,” she said.
What’s the sweet stuff? Johnston sells everything from cinnamon rolls to two-inch slices of cake, and cookies.
She bakes daily and changes cake and cinnamon roll specialty flavors weekly.
“I always come up with crazy (cake) flavors, like peanut butter-and-jelly, boston cream, cherry pie,” she said, adding that peanut butter-and-jelly is a peanut butter cake with a vanilla buttercream center and strawberry jelly.
She also sells brownies, cupcakes and cake pops and takes orders for custom cakes for weddings and special events.
Her best-sellers are the cinnamon rolls, cupcakes and cake slices.
How did she start? Johnston said the idea to become a baker came from the success of her Christmas baskets. To save money, instead of buying gifts for family members, she’d make gift baskets filled with baked goods. Her relatives loved them so much, she decided to start selling the baskets to friends.
“It became a tradition and I said, ‘Maybe I should start doing it more often.’ I started offering them to the public for different holidays and it just grew from there. I got a cookie order and a cake order and kind of just spiraled out of control, “ she recalled, adding that’s when she quit her office job.
The mother of five enjoyed the flexibility as it allowed her to earn a living while being home with her children.
Besides custom orders, she started selling cookies, banana bread and zucchini bread at the Auburndale Flea Market to grow her clientele.
“When the snowbirds come down, I make a ton of money at the flea market,” Johnston said, adding she still sells her breads there in the fall and winter.
She is completely self-taught. She learned how to cook at 12 and made her first cake in 2015. She watches many YouTube tutorials and follows bakers on Facebook to get ideas, and learn different techniques, such as how to stack a cake. Some of her recipes come from her mother and grandmother.
“I enjoy what I do so it doesn’t feel like work,” she said.
Mel’s Desserts and Delights is open Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Colombian bakery opens: If you live on the north side of town, check out La Gracia Colombian Bakery & Sandwich shop.
It’s located at 5100 US Hwy N, Ste 15, in Oak Plaza.
La Gracia is open Monday- Saturday 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The baker, Jaime Gonzalez, is from Medellín. He and his wife, Astrid, run the bakery. They sell everything from arepas to cuban sandwiches, to Pandebono (Colombian cheese bread) and natural fruit juices and Colombian coffee. It’s been open since April.
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Nice story. I will check it out!