Katie Mullert, owner of Katie Cups Treat Boutique, shows off the inside of a rainbow cake, one of the creations she offers through her custom cake business.
Katie Mullert, owner of Katie Cups Treat Boutique, puts the finishing touches on a Memorial Day themed cake on a recent afternoon. Mullert creates custom cakes, cupcakes, cookies and other treats through her home-based business.
Some of Katie Mullert's custom creations for Katie Cups Treat Boutique.
Katie Mullert, owner of Katie Cups Treat Boutique, shows off the inside of a rainbow cake, one of the creations she offers through her custom cake business.
Katie Mullert loves making cakes because they allow her to use her creative talents. She loves making cakes for the challenge of creating just the right thing for the right person.
But she really loves making cakes for the smiles they bring to people’s faces.
“I like to make people happy,” she said.
In January, Mullert officially opened Katie Cups Treat Boutique, a custom baking business she runs out of her home near Toledo. It was a dream about two years in the making as Mullert had the desire to open her own business but said saving for the materials needed and getting the proper permitting and licensing took her some time.
Katie Cups Treat Boutique
For more information on offerings or to order, call (360) 880-9615 or email katiectb@yahoo.com. More information is also available at
https://www.facebook.com/Katie-Cups-Treat-Boutique-351178652391691/
Mullert started baking when she was about 10. She was homeschooled at Lewis County Learning Center and she and her mother, Teresa Mullert, took a few Wilton cake decorating classes together. Mullert said she has always loved art, especially drawing and comic boarding. Most recently, Mullert has been creating candles out of vintage teacups. She also creates custom vinyl designs for T-shirts using a ScanNCut printer, which allows her to create custom designs and print them exactly in vinyl. But cake decorating was something with which she found an instant connection.
“I like to be creative with frosting,” Mullert said of what she enjoys about decorating cakes. “I also like the concept of edible creations.”
Mullert said the inspiration to open her own baking business came from baking for community dinners at her church, Toledo First Baptist. She said many of the members enjoyed her creations so much they encouraged her to sell them. But she said it was the reaction from the children that really pushed her forward on the path.
“They would come up to the table and see my cupcakes and their eyes would get wide and they’d say ‘wow’ and that was priceless,” Mullert said.
Katie Cups Treat Boutique sells custom orders of cakes, cupcakes and cookies as well as miniature and regular sized pies. But it’s the cake and cupcake decorating that is truly Mullert’s passion. She said she prefers not to work in fondant or gum paste, instead relying strictly on buttercream frosting for her creations, as well as occasionally modeling chocolate, to create her designs. She said she is inspired by cake trends she sees on the Internet but also sees a value in the traditional ways of making cakes beautiful.
“I like things that are very simple and I like to build from simple ideas,” Mullert said. “I try to think of ways to make things look different but also traditional.”
One of the more modern twists that Mullert offers with her cakes is different colors and patterns inside the cake itself. She can color her vanilla cake to create different colored layers, checkerboard patterns or even camo-esque swirls that only reveal themselves when you cut into the cake.
Mullert said smaller orders can be made as little as one week in advance but she prefers two or more weeks notice for an order. Especially for cakes, she prefers being able to have a consultation with clients to hear about their vision for the finished product.
“She’ll sit across from them and sketch it all out for them and make sure it’s exactly what they want,” explained Teresa Mullert.
Mullert works at Michael’s in Chehalis part time in addition to her bakery work. She said she would eventually like for Katie Cups Treat Boutique to grow to the point that she could do the work full time. But she said she is taking her time to grow her business, preferring to put down strong roots to rapid growth that could fizzle out quickly.
“It’s God’s plan in the end,” she said. “I can’t tell him when to rush. I’ve got to go with the flow.”
Katie Cups Treat Boutique
For more information on offerings or to order, call (360) 880-9615 or email katiectb@yahoo.com. More information is also available at
https://www.facebook.com/Katie-Cups-Treat-Boutique-351178652391691/
