Moms working on business recipe

Gourmet cupcake startup is latest vendor at Farmer’s Market in Destrehan

Moms seeking a creative outlet and looking to make some extra money came up with the idea of making gourmet sweets with a special emphasis on a particular sweet treat.

“Cupcakes allows us to think outside the box of what people think of as a ‘normal’ cupcake,” said Brooke Trepagnier of their own homegrown business in Laplace. “Cupcakes are like your own personal dessert that you don’t have to share with anyone.”

Trepagnier and her business partner, Cabrina Fleming, recently started their new home bakery business, Salt and Pepper Sweets. They’ve been in business about two months and are the latest vendor at the German Coast Farmer’s Market on Saturdays in Destrehan.

Fleming said they both bring many family recipes to the table, “but we try to recreate and add a little ‘Salt and Pepper Sweets’ flare.’”

“Our business is growing at a steady pace,” Trepagnier said.Their edge, according to Trepagnier, is using fresh, local ingredients.

“Our cupcakes are all made from scratch,” she said, adding, they also deliver them.”

They’ve taken classic desserts and made them into a cupcake, such as Pecan Pie Cupcake, Trepagnier said. It’s one of their holiday flavors.

Their creations also include cupcakes in flavors like caramel apple spice, strawberry cheesecake, red velvet cheesecake and death by chocolate.

The two say that’s just the beginning of the ideas they have in mind for their cupcakes.

“We love to develop new and exciting out-of-the-box flavors,” Trepagnier added. “We take the time to make sure that each part of our cupcake process is perfected and tested before we add them to our menu.”

Trepagnier and Fleming hope to open their own storefront eventually to sell their desserts full time.

According to Fleming, “We feel extremely blessed to have the opportunity to be able to open business doing what we live to do.”