Wild Flours Hopes To Be Saint John’s Piece of Cake
SAINT JOHN– A cake and sweets shop in uptown Saint John that recently closed down will soon be replaced by another.
Wild Flours Sweets and Treats will soon be opening at 91 Prince William Street, the former home of Piece ‘O’ Cake, a custom cake and cupcake shop which recently closed down after owner Sherry Brown announced last November she was leaving the business to focus on her photography business.
Wild Flours owner, Sarah McNulty, who worked at Piece ‘O’ Cake for six years, said the idea to open her own business came one day while in the shop baking with Brown.
“When she announced it, it was a big response. We were here baking one day and [Brown] said, ‘you know, it’s a shame you couldn’t just take over the shop and keep in going.’ We kind of just laughed about it,” says McNulty. “Then we were like wait a minute, we could probably make this happen.”
She then purchased all the equipment from Brown and started her own lease in the Prince William Street storefront.
McNulty is a graduate of the NBCC culinary course in St. Andrews. She says it was the creativity that drew her towards baking.
“It doesn’t really feel like work. I like being in the kitchen and baking gives you a little bit more creativity,” she says. “You can do a million different things from a set of ingredients. Once your pantry’s full, you’re free to make all kinds of stuff.”
Wild Flours will still offer cupcakes and cakes, using most of the same recipes used at Piece ‘O’ Cake. But McNulty says they are going to be expanding offerings to include a rotating menu of other types of sweets.
“We’re going to do cinnamon buns, and brownies and cookies, so more of traditional bakery styles,” she says.
Wild Flours will also feature a “to-go” cakes section as well as a coffee station for customers who want to sit down and enjoy a treat.
“We’re trying to go in a bit of a different direction where it’s the same idea, but some other products,” says McNulty.
The goal is to be open by September 17. Like Piece ‘O’ Cake was before it, McNulty hopes Wild Flours becomes the go-to spot for sweet in uptown Saint John.
“I hope it turns into a place where if you and your girls are going out shopping, you come down and have a piece of pie after. It’s just somewhere quick to stop. I just want it to be a comfortable place to just come and relax,” she says.
“We’re hoping it’s a place where people think of first where they think ‘oh, I need to get a birthday cake’ or want to do something extra special for an anniversary or something … We want to be able to help people with that.”