A Family of Sweet Treats

Whipping up gourmet cupcakes with personalities

Story by dalondo moultriephotos by Felicia Frazar

Many have heard people who cook or bake say that their creations take on lives of their own. But when Commie Holmes of Sweet Treats/Commie Cakes in Seguin says it, she really means it. Her gourmet cupcakes sometimes are the stars of nearly feature-length episodes filled with drama on her Facebook Live broadcasts announcing each days’ treats and sharing her and her beloved family’s world with viewers.

“All my cupcakes have their own personalities,” she said. “Before my daughter came to work with me, there was no one here but me. I would talk to my cupcakes.”

She paused here to say she’s not crazy and doesn’t want customers to “think I’m cuckoo.” But talk to the cupcakes Holmes did and still does.

“Sometimes they would fight and sometimes one would be jealous of the other one,” she said. “I was by myself and to entertain myself, I would talk to my cupcakes.”

From there, drama ensued in the cupcake world. And her ability to let customers in on the cupcake shenanigans as well as give them a look at her natural self likely helped the business, Holmes said.

“When I first started Sweet Treats, I was not being myself because I thought I had to act a certain way,” she said. “I really wasn’t putting myself into my business. Really, I was starting to get kind of depressed because I was doing something that I love but I wasn’t being me.”

Her love for cooking and baking dates back years ago. In fact, she was just a child when bitten by the baking bug, Holmes said.

The impetus came from her mother and grandmother, who have since moved on but still are present in her everyday actions and within the spirit of Sweet Treats.

“That’s where my love for the kitchen started, with my mom and my big momma,” Holmes said. “Knowing my way around the kitchen started with them. They’re no longer here but I feel their presence at Sweet Treats guiding me.”

We don’t play ’bout our cupcakes, baby.

Love for crafting culinary creations to tempt the tastebuds eventually led to Holmes baking and selling food out of her home. That came after she worked in customer service for Nash Family Catering and co-owner Laura Nash had her begin decorating cakes.

“That’s when I realized I liked it, I had a passion for it and kept wanting to do more,” Holmes said. “I kept researching on cake decorating. I never took a class. I didn’t even know cake decorating classes existed. I learned through trial and error.”

If it weren’t for Nash, Holmes said she never would’ve developed her love for what she currently does. And she has praise and thanks to go around. She gives no more credit to anyone above the most high.

It was God who put her on the path to take over Sweet Treats from its thenowner Celeste Koepsel.

“I say that because in 2019, I got this feeling and this nudge to quit my job,” Holmes said. “I knew that was nothing but God telling me to do it. But I kind of fought Him on it because I was scared.”

She had just had a daughter go to college and had reservations about her own ability to be successful without a regular job. Holmes came up with reasons why it might not work, but she felt God continue to push her toward entrepreneurship.

Holmes eventually quit her job without a plan but with resolve that the Lord would take care of her. Soon she heard from Koepsel who was ready to retire and wanted someone she trusted to take over Sweet Treats.

“I’m so thankful she chose me and she helped me,” Holmes said. “Not only did she choose me, but she helped me purchase Sweet Treats.”

The trust was well placed. Now business is flourishing with the help of her family — sister Charron Miller, the sugar cookie dough girl; daughter Justice Holmes, the cleaning machine; daughter Jayce Holmes, who is away at college but helps with social media; and daughter Brooklyn Holmes, a.k.a. Buttercream Brooke, who started making buttercream and has graduated to baking, is learning to decorate and also serves customers.

The whole team is crucial to Sweet Treats’ success, Commie said.

“I couldn’t do it without them, especially my sister,” she said. “I want to give a lot of credit to my sister. … She is my backbone.”

Since letting her true self shine through in the business, Sweet Treats continues to prosper with its unique, gourmet cupcakes. The shop serves varieties such as banana split, Proud Mary, German chocolate, multiple takes on red velvet (Commie’s personal favorite), birthday sprinkles and much more.

Each has its own identity, and sometimes they get into skirmishes. For instance, Red Velvet has an ongoing affair with German Chocolate, and Birthday Sprinkles and Red can’t seem to get along, Commie said.

“Birthday Sprinkles, she’s very pretty, but she can be very salty at times,” she said. “She’s very jealous.”

“I don’t take a lot of pictures of Birthday Sprinkles,” Commie continued. “She really gets jealous because she makes somebody happy every day because ever day is somebody’s birthday. She can get really salty because she deserves the attention.” But Red seems to get all the glory. It’s fun and games when it comes to the talking treats, but Commie wants to assure the public and her customers, emphatically, that she takes her baking, decorating and serving her treats extremely seriously. She puts tons of love into what she does and it comes through in every bite.

“That’s what I say, ‘I don’t play ’bout my cupcakes,’’ Commie said. “When I say that, it means I take them seriously. I didn’t say ‘about,’ I said ‘’bout.’ We don’t play ’bout our cupcakes, baby.’”

Customers and social media commenters say she’s an inspiration. But she doesn’t feel that way, personally. She likes to be encouraging and keep things on a positive note, but she remains just a servant of God who is blessed to be doing something she loves, Commie said.

“I’m doing the best with my life and living,” she said. “I’m very blessed that God gave me this talent and I’m blessed to share it with the world. I love to share my talent with the world. I love to make people happy with my cupcakes.”

July 1 is her second anniversary running the store. And Sweet Treats hopes to continue for years to come serving up goodies from the heart.