How sweet it is. Sweet JOY Bakery prepares to open in Pineville
Seven years ago, God closed a door on a job for Cindy Price, owner of Sweet JOY Bakery LLC. Then He opened up another door for her to start baking out of her home under the cottage law.
Now, He’s helping her open a shop at 3324 Military Highway in Pineville.
“We exponentially grew and by word of mouth,” she said. “And it was definitely time to take this dream the extra step.”
Sweet JOY Bakery is a family run business. Price said her husband Walter is phenomenal at icing cakes.
"They’re level and straight and just absolutely phenomenal,” she said.
Her daughter Tonya Brown is an artist who decorates the cakes.
She came on board about 2 years ago when she noticed her mother needed help.
The shop will be opening soon. Just keep an eye out for an opening date on their Facebook page. That’s the only place they advertise aside from word of mouth.
The shop will be open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. until noon Saturday. They will be closed Sunday.
"Go to church," added Price.
“We’re finishing up our menu options and things like that before we open,” said Price.
The menu will have homemade biscuits, biscuit sandwiches, biscuits and gravy, freshly made muffins, scones, cookies. And it will also include the ultimate breakfast sandwich.
“You’ll just have to wait and see to find out about that, but it will be something amazing,” she said.
The shop has an espresso machine so they will also be selling coffee made with Reve Coffee Roasters out of Lafayette.
The menu will have all their popular desserts such as cheesecakes and cakes.
“We’re very well known for our cinnamon rolls. We’re mostly known for our King Cakes,” she said. “We did about 3,500 King Cakes out of our kitchen, so we plan on knocking it out the park over here for King Cake season.”
All King Cakes are fresh and made to order.
And you don’t have to wait until Mardi Gras to buy a King Cake. Sweet JOY Bakery sells them all year long.
She is proud that she has not missed one week of making a King Cake for well over a year.
“Somebody has requested King Cake every single week for over a year and a half,” said Price. “There is a demand.
One of the reasons why they are selling King Cakes all year is because of out-of-state visitors.
“If you have people who are here in July visiting from out of state, you want to introduce them to our culture and King Cake is such a huge part of our culture,” she said.’
Price grew up with a passion for baking.
“When I was a little girl, I would bake with my grandmother and my aunts and just all always had a passion for baking,” she said.
As she got older, she would take baked goods to other people and they would always tell her that she needed to sell it.
"Years later, I actually did sell my King Cakes to friends and family and so forth,” she said.
After she opened up the business in her home, little by little they bought equipment and kept it in their garage.
“Again, God opened up doors for great deals on big mixers. Where they normally cost lots of money, I would get great deals. Ovens, bigger mixers - lots of fun stuff,” she said.
The shop is light and bright with natural light. They’ll be adding shades to the window to help with the afternoon sun, said Price.
Brown designed the shop including the light fixture hanging in the corner over one of the booths. People who have visited the shop have commented on how much they really like it.
Several people in town own Brown’s art and some pieces are hanging in the Main Dish on Versailles, said Price. Some of her paintings will decorate the walls of Sweet JOY Bakery as well.
Price hopes to open the shop in a week and a half. They still have some work they have to do. She would like to do an opening celebration with people who helped make her dream come true.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: How sweet it is. Sweet JOY Bakery prepares to open in Pineville
