When Kelly Kenny moved back to Terrace Bay in late 2019, she brought her custom cupcake and cake business, Kelly Cakes, with her.
Kenny had been living in Alberta, working as a registered professional forester when she decided on a career change. “I needed a break,” she explains. “There was a little cafe in town, and I always said, ‘One of these days I’m going to buy this place.’ And that’s what I did.”
In addition to owning and operating Orchard Cafe, she started a custom “cupcakery” out of the cafe, calling her business Kelly Cakes. When her husband got a job on the North Shore, the family moved to Terrace Bay and Kelly got a cooking job at the local hospital.
She thought she was ready to take a break from specialized baking, but word got out that she was an excellent baker, and Kenny restarted Kelly Cakes in Terrace Bay.
The home-based bakery makes customized cakes and cupcakes for a wide range of events and celebrations, ranging from birthdays to weddings. She has even made a special cake to celebrate three years of sobriety, and “another one was a cake to celebrate two years out of an unwelcome relationship for the client,” she adds.
Whatever the occasion, Kenny feels honoured “to be a part of someone’s special day,” she says. “I get to create something that makes that day memorable.”
Kenny was sad to leave her repeat customers behind in Alberta. “There are kids whose [birthday] cakes I made every year, starting back in 2016. That was hard to walk away from.” She hopes to rebuild her customer base in Terrace Bay, Schreiber and other communities along the North Shore.
“You start to evolve those cakes, and you start to evolve with that family,” she says. “You create that rapport, and you make friends.” As demanding as a baker’s job can be, she finds the work relaxing, and “that smile on someone’s face when they see the cake” is what keeps her going, she explains.
Kenny juggles two part-time jobs in addition to Kelly Cakes, which can be a challenge at times. But it’s always quality over quantity, she says. “I don’t want to deviate from that.” Even at the local hospital where she works in the kitchen, she likes to make sure everything is plated nicely, to bring a smile to people’s faces.
While it’s difficult to imagine what lies ahead, Kenny hopes that one day, she might be able to own her own cafe again. “If I won the lottery, I’d want to have my own space again. It would be nice to have my cafe back,” she muses. “Maybe one day!”
