Are you looking to balance out your typical chips and beer with something a little sweeter. What about melt-in-your-mouth ribbons of soft buttercream or tantalizing flavors like Strawberry Moscato and Salted Caramel? Maybe some lighter-than-air chocolate cake filled with chocolate ganache or marshmallow crème.
Grabbing a few cupcakes, cake pops or a dozen chocolate chip cookies from Icing Café in the heart of Oakville can only add to your sweet pleasures. Owned for the past seven years by Dana Stetina, the boutique bakery has a business model that’s …well, sweet!
When you drop by Icing Café, you’re greeted by Dana’s down-to-earth friendliness. She shares that it’s these moments in her shop that make her love her business. “My customers are what make me happy. I love seeing the same customers and knowing what they like, and when coming up with my flavors, I listen to the customers and their requests.”
Icing Café gets a lot of attention for their Salted Caramel cupcakes, and they’re famous for their buttercream frosting. While other items like chocolate chip cookies and gooey butter cake do their part to generate a lot of word-of-mouth attention for the shop, Dana also advertises in the Oakville Call for holidays and uses her website and Facebook to attract new customers.
Icing Café was originally started by two women who loved the idea of capturing the momentum of “Cupcake Wars.” When they decided to sell the shop 18 months later, Dana’s neighbor Emily Lotshaw convinced Dana to buy the store together. Dana had been a stay-at-home mom for 12 years, but was ready to try something new and loved baking and creative outlets.
After five and a half years, Emily moved to Australia and Dana has continued to run the Icing Café and hired cake decorator Shannon Vessells to help shoulder the many custom orders they handle for weddings, birthdays and other special events.
Dana’s vision for the shop is bigger than just satisfying the sweet tooth of Oakville. She also finds ways to give back to the community. From donating cupcakes to local trivia nights or delivering a box of goodies to area firefighters on her way home at night, Dana enjoys supporting others’ service. She also contributes to a group called Sweet Celebrations that provides personalized birthday cakes for kids in homeless shelters. Pretty sweet, right?
While Dana is still getting accustomed to running the shop as the sole owner, she’s more than ready to be your cupcake supplier of choice! Surrounded by tiers of cupcakes in varying flavors, brownie bites and Rice Krispies pops, Dana can easily say, “I’m excited to see where this little bakery can go!”