Business Is Blooming For Saint John-Area ‘Cake Boss’

GRAND BAY-WESTFIELD — “It’s like a fine wine,” says Teresa Blakely of vanilla, a key ingredient in her Cakestruck desserts, which have been tantalizing customers since 2013.

“Vanilla kind of fascinates me because there’s so much variety. The types of vanilla I use for different situations changes. It’s a bit of an art.”

The finer points of when to use a Madagascar vanilla versus a Tahitian one are what interests Blakely. It’s taken a lot of research, conversations with other bakers, and trial and error to arrive at the perfect combinations.

“You know, just like there’s so many different notes in different wines, there’s all these different flavours mixed in there with the vanilla.  I use Tahitian vanilla, which is a weaker, milder product so you have to use more of it. But it’s got different undertones to it that the Madagascar just doesn’t have. It just changes everything.”

“And don’t even get me started on cocoa.”

From humble beginnings as a hobby baker who decided to take a cake decorating course at Michael’s craft store, Blakely has embraced the freedom and artistry of being a “cake boss,” turning her part-time passion into her main, if still not quite full-time, career.

She started Cakestruck in 2013, saying goodbye to an office job after 20 years of corporate life as an executive assistant. That shift involved getting an entirely new commercial kitchen installed in her home, complete with regular health inspections as any other commercial baker would receive.

But in 2021, she decided to expand her horizons even further and embrace an entirely new but somewhat related business as a commercial horticulturalist. Flowers on Highland provides locally grown flowers for florists in the Saint John area, as well as for special events.

Now her two businesses are filling her week with orders and requests.

“I offer bouquets, so people can order them and pick them up all through the week. And then I usually do one or two deliveries to florists in town,” she says of the first part of her week. “Then I still have my Thursday [and] Friday to do the cake and prepare any flowers for weddings on Saturdays. So, it’s been working out pretty well. It’s been busy but it’s been manageable.”

And she’s doing it on her own. Over the years, as she decided to take on these projects as actual profit-making ventures, she’s invested significantly to make sure that all the ‘i’s were dotted and ‘t’s were crossed.

“What we’ve actually got under cultivation is probably just over a quarter of an acre,” she says of the land she’s devoted to growing flowers. “But how you grow is important. I don’t grow in rows, I grow on in grid. [The amount of space] varies, but you can cram a lot of plants into a small space to grow commercially.”

This is in addition to the two greenhouses Blakely has on the go for her premium flowers like dahlias and ranunculus. The rest of the flowers are grown outside, in a fenced off area to stop the deer from eating them.

Many flowers don’t ship over long distances very well, and florists are eager to find local suppliers. “Talking with florists that I supply, I’ll ask them: ‘what do you want me to grow?’ I’ve actually tailored my order for next year, based on what these florists have told me. It’s a learning process for sure.”

So far, the flowers are just a seasonal venture, one which is just winding down this week.

“I don’t have the capacity to grow through the winter. Which I kind of like because if I could, I would, and I would never get a break!”

While not a certified organic grower, Blakely likes to keep the flower growing business as simple, and as local, as possible.

“I’m not I don’t want to start using like chemical insecticides and all that stuff.  We’re trying to stay fairly natural. I do use the insecticidal soap as a spray but that’s about it,” she says, adding that compost from a local landfill is what’s used to fertilize the flowers.

“Once a week we’ll let the feeders go empty and try to encourage the birds to hit the gardens,” she says “so just little things like that, to try not to harm anything other than the bugs I guess, but harm them in a natural way.”

“I certainly sleep well at night it’s just peaceful. It’s so nice to surround yourself with these flowers in this beauty. It feels so natural.”

Alex Graham is a Huddle reporter in Saint John. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].

Editor’s note: This story was last updated on October 26, at 11:58 a.m.