My Niche

The other question on my mind recently is what makes me think this is going to work? What sets me apart from everyone else? How do I “brand” myself? I have come up with two things that I think sets me apart.

First – I love to bake, my enjoyment comes from the process of baking. Taking raw ingredients, mixing them together in a specific order and resulting in a product that is so much great then the sum of the parts. What this means, is that I make things from scratch. My things don’t come from the freezer or a box or anything that is premixed – with one exception. I bake the way your Mothers or Grandmothers baked. Buying a package of cookie dough and putting it in the oven is not baking and I can honestly say I do not recall ever buying a package of “store bought cookies.” I even make all of my frosting from scratch, nothing from a can. I know this is rare in this day and age, most people don’t make the time, or have the desire to really bake things. So I see this as something that sets me apart. Plus I make all those old favorites – éclair desert, congo bars, oatmeal scotchies, potato chip cookies…..

Second - Allergy sensitive baking. My nine year old nephew has a peanut allergy. When this was discovered, 7 or so years ago, my sister did a tremendous amount of research. It was very interesting to discover what companies and brand went to great measures to provide nut free products and which did not. At that time our family basically went nut free and that included my baking. With the exception of the things I bake with nuts, everything else I produce is completely nut free to the extent that the products I use are not even produced on the same equipment that produces nuts. In addition my kitchen is set up in a way that any nuts I have in the house are in a completely different cupboard then the rest of my baking supplies, and I use different measuring tools, pans, dish clothes, and pot holders when I bake with nuts. I also completely sanitized (i.e. bleach) my counters after using nuts. Now you may think this is anal, but this issue is extremely personal to me. My nephew knows that anything I make for him is safe and it will always be that way. I see this as a major strength – most people dealing with a peanut allergy completely bypass any baked item because it is just too risky – this is an allergy that causes death, and you can’t be too careful. So by understanding this issue and catering to it will set me apart.