Buness brings new bakery to Wrangell

Wrangell resident Shawna Buness and self-proclaimed Food Network fanatic was having a hard time finding someone in town to make her wedding cake in January. So she got online and starting watching videos on the art of cake-making.

“I thought, you know, I could do this,” Buness said.

While she didn’t end up baking her own wedding cake, Buness bought the supplies for the local resident who did make it, and started playing around with the fondant — a pliable icing used for cakes, cupcakes and other baked treats.

That was nearly two months ago. Since then, Buness, 26, has had a lot more practice with fondant, covering her custom cakes and cupcakes that she has begun selling to locals. In the past two months, Buness has established her own cake recipes and has even created her own business: Stella’s Bakery. The bakery’s name is inspired by Buness’ one-year-old daughter Stella.

“I always enjoyed baking, it’s always something I was good at it,” she said. “And, now I get to make some money off of it.”

Buness is not professionally trained, and has mastered the art of baking mostly through trial and error in her own kitchen. But already, she has kept busy with customers requesting her baked goods. Her chocolate cupcake with toasted pecan filling topped with coconut-cream frosting, seems to be an instant hit.

On Valentine’s Day, Buness delivered 12 dozen of her cupcakes around town.

“People loved it,” she said. “It was great.”

Over the past week, she made four cakes. The weekend before last, she made two— a butterfly-themed cake for a friend’s baby shower, and a cake shaped like a Gameboy for a boy’s birthday.

Buness said she is having a blast using the fondant to decorate her cakes.

“The possibilities are endless, you can be so creative,” she said.

Originally from Bellingham, Wash., Buness has her brother ship baking supplies from her hometown as she doesn’t have access to everything she needs in Wrangell. Buness said she moved up to Wrangell in 2010, and ever since, the town has been without a bakery.

Buness focuses mainly on cakes, cupcakes and cinnamon rolls. Her husband works for the fire department and Buness brings her homemade cinnamon rolls to the department every week.

“They were my first regular customer,” Buness said of the fire department. “They get cinnamon rolls every Friday morning.”

Stella’s Bakery has a Facebook page, and mainly generates business through word of mouth, Buness said.

“It’s such a small town, word gets out,” she said.

Buness currently works out of her home. Ideally, she said she would buy a space downtown and open a storefront bakery tomorrow. But for now, Buness said she wants to see if a bakery is something Wrangell really wants and can support.

“I just wanted to do this on my own for a little bit and see if this is something people will get excited about, and then just die off,” she said. “Or, is this something people are going to keep coming back to and worth opening a store for?”