B’s Bakery spares no detail when creating its treats for a holiday or special occasion.
When the Capital Plaza Tower was imploded in March, the downtown bakery created “Implosion Cupcakes,” complete with a small, edible replica of the tower on top, to mark the tower’s final day. For Frankfort’s Capital Pride Day, the bakery created cupcakes with small rainbows on them. And, among the many Halloween-themed treats this year were petit fours, bite-sized sweets, and brownies decorated with tiny skeletons or decorated to look like Frankenstein.
And, when a host on the TV show “Hey Kentucky!” suggested Frankfort should be demolished along with Capital Plaza Tower, B’s created themed donuts that were later featured on the same show.
“We try to be very forward thinking here and try to appeal to what’s trending as well as that old school bakery product and everything here is homemade,” owner Beth Greenwell Carter said.
The bakery plans to do the same for Christmas — Buche de Noel Cookies, decorated to look like miniature yule logs petit fours with “Merry Christmas” written in frosting, Christmas trees and Santa on top as well as an entire set of Nutcracker-themed cookies.
“We really try to do holidays big,” Carter said. “We go all out.”
The ideas for the next clever confection stem from late nights thinking about what to create next to or conversations between head pastry chef Meredith Dungan Shouse and Carter, the pair says. The reason for the Nutcracker-themed cookies, besides the fact that the ballet is set at Christmastime, is that a movie called “Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is set to be released Nov. 2.
In the spirit of going all out this year, B’s Bakery also plans to have Santa and Mrs. Claus at the store on Dec. 15 to read stories. Kids will be able to decorate cookies, too.
“It’s just a thank you from B’s Bakery to the community for supporting us throughout the year,” Carter said.
And the bakery’s vision, to create unique treats whether it’s for a community event or a major holiday, is now two years old and still going strong.
Carter, originally from Frankfort, says the first donut for B’s Bakery was fried in a pot at her catering business’ — Fork Knife and Spoon Catering — which was opened just several months earlier. And the rest is history.
“It just kind of exploded in a great way,” Carter said. “We did not know what we were getting into at the time. Three-thousand pounds of flour, sugar, etcetera that I hauled back and forth from Louisville until we found a good source. We really started from scratch just like the products.”
Shortly after the bakery’s grand opening in July 2016, for example, B’s twice ran out of the donuts they anticipated needing for the entire day.
Now, the bakery fries its donuts right before it opens, and Carter recommends stopping by between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. to get a hot one.
“It will change your life,” she says.
Carter recalls for three days handing out samples to people on the sidewalk as a way to introduce B’s Bakery to the Frankfort community. The line of people was multiple blocks long, she recalled.
And, since the store’s opening, Carter says she’s found catering to be particularly popular, too. She mentioned wedding catering as an example, which could include anything from cupcake bars to donut walls. When asked, Carter clarified that a donut wall is an actual wall that can hold 56 donuts.
This year, B’s Bakery also started hosting kids’ camp classes for the first time. That offering, Carter said, drew a total of 250 kids.
B’s Bakery has even created its own rendition of a food truck in the form of an antique camper affectionately named “Dottie.” B’s travels around to sell prepackaged products from the camper, but Carter jokes she’s never actually camped in it. Though, it does feature air conditioning and a stove should Carter ever need them.
And, while it’s primarily known for its baked goods, the bakery also operates a deli that includes items such as panini sandwiches.
The bakery, located at 241 W. Main St. is open from 5:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
