Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Barney.
Hi Jen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a professional pastry chef who has a bakery storefront in La Crosse, WI.
I have won 3 Food Network Baking Championships, which really accelerated my growth.
Meringue Bakery specializes in detailed artistic cakes and we also do a large amount of wholesaling gourmet pastries and desserts to coffee shops and restaurants.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road!
My first retail location was set to open the week that COVID shutdowns happened. It was a very confusing time and my brand new business had a lot of setbacks. One of the biggest challenges I had was that my original plan for a bakery had a full café with it. It was difficult to get the café off the ground during COVID, so we eventually subleased that portion of the bakery space to another business that compliments our business. In May of 2024 we introduced NOM Sips and Eats into our space and it has been a very beneficial for both businesses. We are able to exist in the same space, and benefit from each other.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
One of my passions is creating life-like edible sugar flowers. It is one of my favorite things to create for wedding cakes or special occasion cakes. In general, my business really does focus on high detail creative work and it is what sets us apart from the average bakery. We are not the bakery you go to when you want an economical cake for a kids birthday. However, we are the bakery you go to when you want to create a memory and celebrate a milestone event.
We genuinely love making people happy through dessert. The want to share people’s story through dessert. For example, this morning I was working on creating 24 “bell” shaped mini cakes. They were for a client who just was cleared for cancer and he got to “ring the bell” at a local hospital. This client commissioned us to make these bell cakes to give to the doctors and nurses that help him recover. We love the stories behind the product and we always feel honored to be apart of someone’s journey. I know it is “just cake” but it is so much more than cake.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I love Marie Forleo’s podcast.
Pricing:
- For pastries our pricing is standard for gourmet pricing, Cookies start at $2-3 each
- For cakes you can expect to spend a range from $3-9 per slice depending on the size and ingredients.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.meringuebakerycafe.com
- Instagram: Meringue Bakery
- Facebook: Meringue Bakery
