Charlotte Orenstein – Sweeties
With a love of baking, she begged her mom to open a bakery. The answer to that question was no, but her mom gave her another idea. Charlotte Orenstien had learned to make cupcakes from scratch using her British Grandmother’s recipe starting when she was in kindergarten. From that point she was hooked and declared herself a baker.
Spending hours watching the Food Network and taking notes on recipes and ideas, Charlotte had a real passion. “Baking takes my mind off of everything else.” Birthdays brought gifts of pans and the tools for her confectionary creations and she could be found in the kitchen making some delicious cake during all of her free time. Charlotte came up with a name and had business cards made. By 5th grade she was ready to have a real venture. “I would take my cards everywhere I went and hand them out. People asked me to make cakes and cupcakes for their parties and I had a business.”
Wanting to learn more, Charlotte asked a family friend to get her an internship at the famed restaurant 21 Federal, on Nantucket. Working with the pastry chef there during her summer vacation, Charlotte was in heaven. “One day I helped him make 700 rolls. I learned so much and it was so much fun.”
Memorizing most of her recipes, Charlotte offers cakes of many flavors like, banana, lemon, vanilla, coconut, chocolate and her most requested chocolate caramel. She uses butter cream, cream cheese and chocolate caramel icing. Making about 2 cakes a week and charging between $30 and $60 depending on the size, Charlotte’s venture is in full swing. “I’m not sure where this will take me but I’m having so much fun. I always make the family dessert and my Dad loves to eat whatever I bake.”
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