At the Heart of Art

On the Sweeter Side of Life with Nils and Bailey Rowland, Owners and Creators of Cr`eme de la Cocoa

SSelecting the perfect wedding cake for your special day is exciting. So many choices, colors, flavors, styles. Now imagine creating over 500 wedding cakes a year! Add to that birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers, a retail and wholesale clientele, and you’re just beginning to scratch the sweet surface. Let’s introduce you to the depth of creativity, patience, collaboration, dedication and sincere hearts that go into each and every cake, cookie, pastry, for every single Crˋeme de la Cocoa customer.

Some of the Sweetest Rewards

Bailey and Nils Rowland have known each other since middle school. What started out as friendship turned into a partnership on all levels. Each of their strengths truly compliments the others. “We work really well together,” says Bailey. “Nils does his mastery in the kitchen and I run the front of the house.” “She’s amazing at what she does and how organized she is,” says Nils. “She’s so great with customers and creating relationships. Our brides love her.” Crˋeme de la Cocoa has many customers that do their birthday cakes, then graduation cake, then their wedding cake, then anniversary cake! “That’s the most rewarding part of the business to me,” says Bailey. The customers that we see in here time and time again who love what we do. Some we even see weekly. It’s meaningful and rewarding.”

Light Up Your Senses Build it and They Will Come

You’ve heard the saying “Build it and they will come?” It’s certainly fitting for these innovative and hardworking young entrepreneurs. “I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Owning my own business was always something in the back of my head as an option. But when Nils brought me to this building where we are now, it was so huge I thought ‘how are we ever going to use all of the space?’ So it’s Nil’s vision that ultimately brought us here to San Marco. Now, we’re filling every nook and cranny of the place and figuring out what our next move will be. Perhaps even another location in the city we grew up in, Gainesville”, says Bailey.

When you walk into their bakery and retail shop on San Marco Avenue, everything is spotless and in its place. The shop is beautifully well lit, welcoming, and the perfect canvas for displaying Nils’ and his team’s creations. All of the gorgeous colors and smells light up your senses from the moment you step inside. Whether you select the Florida Native pastry or the Southern Belle Pecan Pie, each has its’ artful place amongst all the goodies to choose from. Bailey says “Over the years we’ve found people really want to count on being able to pick out that favorite pastry of theirs every time they come in. On occasion we’ll have a special feature cookie or pastry, but we keep creating the items that have become people’s favorites.” When Nils is asked what his favorite thing is to make, he really loves it all. But he does have a note of sentimentality towards lemon meringue pie. In fact, anything with meringue on top of it! “We don’t make a lot of them here says Nils, “but that’s my earliest memory of baking. My dad is English so he loves anything with lemon, lemon curd, lemon meringue pie.” “And my dad,” says Bailey “was instrumental in creating our ice cream. “He’s been a huge supporter of ours and a vital part of our growth,” Nils says. “He’s always finding equipment or has a new idea for us. Some of the equipment we haven’t even had the opportunity to use yet, but we will!”

Sweet Moves

When the couple acquired their building out on the edge of town people thought they were crazy. They said ‘you’ll never make it out there, you need to be downtown.’ “Everybody said that to us, says Nils. Customers have easy access. They can come in and out without any hassle, parking. If a mom wants to get some cookies or ice cream with her kids after school, she can just swing in with

by Angela Moonan, photography by Angela Moonan

them and it’s super easy. We’re really happy that we chose to come here. It’s all worked out really well. “Because we also thought at the time, what if? What if something we can’t control happens? We could never have predicted that it would be a pandemic. But when it hit, we didn’t have the higher rents, we were insulated from a lot of that and we’ve b really been able to make it work here. We kept everybody working. We were lucky. we just encouraged our staff to keep going. We knew that if we could adapt that when we turned the corner on this thing there would be a floodgate of business and that’s exactly what happened. With Bailey’s innovative mind, she got us online. She figured out new systems for customers to be able to do curbside pickup. I could never have done that” says Nils. “I stay in the kitchen and keep making and baking and doing what I love. My wife’s amazing. She really is.” The Sweeter Side of the Street

The art of a great pastry chef is rare. And it’s becoming more so every day in the industry. “The demand for what I do is incredibly high,” says Nils. “Really, the sky’s the limit.” When this wonderful pair is asked “What’s next?” While they may not know every single step right now, it’s clear they have intentions to continue their expansion and their impact. Bailey would like to see their shipping move to the next level with Crˋeme de la Cocoa boxes shipping Coast to Coast. “We’re working on the nuances of that right now. That, as well as added locations. We see all of that as part of our future,” says Bailey. From the display of colorful macarons to the beautiful array of truffles, some even painted with gold, Bailey and Nils are unquestionably living the sweet life. What’s even more inspiring is how much sweetness and joy they’re creating in the lives of so many. When you think about 500 weddings alone, and the number of people that attend those weddings… Tens of thousands of people are living a sweeter life because of the art and heart of Bailey and Nils, and all that is… Crˋeme de la Cocoa. n