Local Baker Satisfying Sweet Tooths in Cobbett's Pond Plaza

Six years ago, Windham resident Karen Plant began crafting cakes and baking sweet treats as a hobby.

After living in town for two decades, she now has a storefront to show off and sell her creations to neighbors, friends and family alike.

Plant officially opened Synfully Sweet Treats in the Cobbett's Pond Plaza on April 6.

Her cleverly-designed bakery slips in perfectly to the location once occupied by Shabby Chic, now located on Route 111 under the new name of Sophisticakes.

But baking for a living wasn't always in the cards for Plant.

"I've always liked to bake, but in college I went to school for computer science and took that route, worked in the corporate world," she said.

While she was working quality assurance for a startup software company, Plant traveled New Hampshire from the Manchester area to the coast and took classes to build her baking skills.

Most notably, she was motivated in 2007 when she saw a piece on N.H. Chronicle about Eatons Cake and Candies in Hooksett.

"They taught basic cake decorating – how to frost a cake without crumbs. I started classes there and learned how to make roses, flowers out of gum paste."

When Plant was laid off from her corporate gig in 2011, she already had four years of practice for Synfully Sweet Treats.

But selling custom cakes and treats out of her home started slow.

"I tried to do this, to build up the business from home, but it was very difficult," she said.

She ended up returning to work part-time, but within two weeks of starting up again, the Cobbett's Pond Plaza space opened up. After lots of thought with her family to make sure it would work, she signed her lease on New Year's Day 2012.

Now Plant is out of her basement, where she ran her business for the first couple of years.

As of now, she's operating the bakery almost all on her own, but she's in full stride trying to connect with local organizations. Plant event has a collaboration with CR Sparks Kitchen in Londonderry, where they are re-selling her treats at their shop.

In just one month of being open, Plant said she is learning something new about running the business each week.

One thing she might have down to a science – the treats being sold.

From pumpkin Whoopie Pies (Yes, pumpkin), cake pops, bon bons and custom cakes crafted from any request, Plant thinks she has a series of products that can hold their own in the sweets market.

"I hope I can cater to their needs," Plant said of her potential customers. "It's homemade stuff. I make it fresh. I'm not using mixes or things like that."

She plans on collaborating with local girl scouts so they can use her bakery to earn their badges. She also has plans to offer treats at local youth baseball games. She has even collaborated with the Windham PTA.

In time, Plant hopes to hold birthday parties right in the shop.

Her new storefront has kept her busy, but the window is now open for her to take her business as far as possible.

"I'm not going up and down the stairs (of my basement) now," she said. "I can have some quiet time to do the cakes. It makes it simpler in the sense of getting things accompished. I can bake a lot more at one time, rotating things in and out with multiple mixers now. (I can) bake a lot faster, prep things ahead."

For more information on Synfully Sweet Treats, visit them on Facebook.

You can also visit their website, which can be found here.