Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Glenny.
Erica, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2018, I turned 40. I expected to feel energized and vibrant but instead felt a sudden sense of dread that my life was going by too fast and I hadn’t done (or even started) a lot of the things I thought I had wanted to do. I threw myself into cooking, which has always been a passion. My husband and I had long been vegetarians and over the years stopped using egg and dairy as well. I was cooking fantastic vegan meals but not much in the way of desserts. For my youngest daughter’s 3rd birthday I wanted to make a vegan cake. I got online, joined some vegan baking groups on Facebook, and managed to put together a pretty decent cake for her birthday. Everyone raved about it and I thought, “Hey, I might be good at this.”. The next month I made another cake. Then two weeks later, another.
And by early 2019 I was baking multiple times a week, purely for fun and experimentation. I had hit on something that I was in love with, some may say borderline obsessed with, and I knew I had to pursue it. I applied for a home bakery license in April 2019 and started selling cakes and cupcakes to the public. I then immediately dove headfirst into mastering vegan macarons – a finicky little almond meringue cookie that is notoriously difficult to make even with traditional non-vegan ingredients – and after months of trials then finally nailing my recipe and technique, I’m being called the “Vegan Macaron Queen” by other bakers in my area. It’s not an easy cookie to make, and friends of mine – really fine bakers – have tried and given up.
I’m really proud that I can offer them to my customers. I also just started a line of gelatin-free gourmet marshmallows which is another difficult item to find vegan. I have been overwhelmed by the response, it’s amazing! My young business has outgrown my home kitchen in Lake Worth Beach and I’m very excited to be moving into a commercial space in the coming weeks. I’ll be joining a handful of other businesses sharing a vegan kitchen in Lake Park, just north of West Palm Beach. It’s a great little Grab & Go cafe called the Vegan Collective Kitchen.
Sharing this storefront while remaining an independent business is a huge opportunity but I am most excited that I’ll be able to offer mail order treats in the coming months. Being able to get my macarons and marshmallows into the hands of my social media fans across the country has been a goal of mine from the beginning. Big things are happening and it suddenly feels really great to be forty-something.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Trying to master vegan macarons has been my biggest challenge. There are a hashtag #macsarejerks that bakers regularly use to express frustration over these cookies. There is a reason they are hard to find! Even with traditional ingredients, there are so many variables that can cause them to fail: the oil content of the almond flour, the humidity of the room, how much they were mixed, the stiffness of the meringue… I could go on and on. It’s a recipe and technique I have spent months and countless hours perfecting.
Kindness Batters Bakery – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am a vegan-only dessert bakery. I make really decadent bakery-style cakes, celebration cakes and cupcakes but I have become most known for my French-style macarons and gourmet marshmallows. These two types of treats are hard to find in vegan form because they are difficult to make. I’m a perfectionist who loves a good challenge so tackling these two things has been exhilarating in a lot of ways.
I literally dream of cookies and marshmallows these days. Being able to deliver mouth-wateringly luscious desserts that just happen to be vegan makes me feel good – for the environment, for the animals. I’d say for health too but let’s be real – there’s nothing healthy about a Cookies n Cream Loaded Marshmallow but it will certainly make you feel happy when you eat it.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I already feel like I’ve won with this business. I love what I’m doing, probably for the first time in my life. My husband is extremely supportive and encouraging, not to mention an eager taste-taster. I look forward to offering treats by mail, and I would love to make more macaron towers for special events. I think they just look so fantastic!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kindnessbatters.com
- Email: kindnessbatters@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/kindness_batters
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/kindnessbatterscakery
Image Credit:
Kindness Batters Bakery
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