Business & Tech

Rosemount Mom Makes Sweet Business from Sour Economy

Rosemount native Cassi Benson turned a fun afternoon with the kids into a growing business after being laid off due to county budget cuts five years ago.

When Cassi Benson was laid off by the county as a truancy officer five years ago, her family joined millions of others in struggling to pay the bills during a sour economy. She tried her hand at real estate, but the housing market collapse would prevent that career from taking off. 

Then, one weekend, in an attempt to entertain her two young children, Benson pulled out some of her Grandma Betty’s baking recipes and fired up the oven. She posted pictures of the afternoon baking party of Facebook and Cassi’s Cupcakes was born.

“It really just started as fun for the kids,” said Benson. “Then people started asking if I could make cupcakes and cakes for their parties.”

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Her home-based business took off and Benson said she now fulfills about five to seven orders a weekend.

“It started as fun, but then I just kind of did it because i needed to,” she said. “It’s how my family has been able to survive. Something as simple as cupcakes.”

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Benson’s cupcakes are anything but simple. The 1999 graduate admits to being a late artistic bloomer, but her artistic side did bloom. Her diverse repertoire of sweet creations have spawned an ever-increasing customer base built predominantly on word of mouth and photos of her work. She says keeping her prices very “hometown” doesn’t hurt either.

From butterflies to baseballs and pirates to peace signs, all of Benson’s creations are completely edible. Well, except for the aluminum can she once used as a prop to bring a foaming mug of beer cake to life.

Her husband, Nate - a construction worker by trade - can often be found helping out in the kitchen mixing batter or holding an aluminum can in the air while his wife works on suspending it with sugar.

“I think it’s been really great that she’s been able to do this,” said Nate, whose family also has experience in the food business via The Doghouse in St. Paul and Pickle Dog of Minnesota State Fair fame. “It’s really helped out the family a lot.”

Benson says getting to share happy occasions with her clients has been one of her biggest rewards of her business. She says a growing trend, and a favorite of hers, are gender reveal cakes.

“A friend I hadn’t seen in ten years looked me up on Facebook and dropped an envelope to me straight from the doctor,” said Benson. “I knew she was having a girl for two weeks before she did.”

Benson designed a baby carriage cake that was pink on the inside so the gender would be revealed when the expectant parents and friends cut into it at a party.

“Those are special,” said Benson of the gender reveal cakes. “How cool is that to be able to share such an intimate moment with someone.”

Benson says she has fulfilled orders of up to 200-plus cupcakes for weddings, but is still limited to baking twelve at a time in the confines of her home kitchen. She has her eye set on finding a commercial oven and some space locally so she can keep expanding the business.

“I’d love to have a place in Rosemount,” she said. “I’d love to have a place where little kids could come and make and decorate their own cupcakes. That would be my goal is to have a bakery, cupcake shop where kids can have parties and you can get items you wouldn’t normally find at a grocery store bakery.”

For now, though, Benson is busy managing her calendar of orders from the same house in Rosemount she grew up in. The couple bought the house from her parents when they moved, so her roots to the community are firmly entrenched. And if Benson’s dream of a hometown shop with her name on it doesn’t become a reality, it certainly won’t dampen her enthusiasm for her new career.

“I totally believe in positive thinking and I always ask ‘why can’t I have a bakery?” said Benson. “But right now I’m just rolling with what’s working. To be able to make things and do something that I love is just amazing to me.”

You can find Cassi’s Cupcakes on Facebook here.

 

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