Ain’t She Sweet?

Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

Written by Melissa Mahanes

Nashville is home to a dazzling (and delicious) array of female-owned bakeries with as many paths to their successes as flavors in their kitchens. Here is a sprinkling of 6 women who take flour, sugar, and eggs, talent and imagination to create some of the sweetest (and sometimes savory) results.

BRIGHTSIDE BAKESHOP—Baking Days Brighter Andrea Borchers of Brightside Bakeshop is classically trained at both the San Francisco Baking Institute and Le Cordon Bleu Paris, where she fell in love with croissants. Andrea started at Richland Park Farmer’s Market and would wake up at 4:00am, bake and make deliveries and then work a full-time retail marketing job. A year later, she transitioned to full-time baker with operations at Citizen Kitchen, then a year after that opened her first retail bakeshop with her husband, Brad. Her small batch artisan bakeries—now with two locations—specializes in morning pastries. Her briochebased selections are both sweet and savory. Delicious samplings are the Sausage and Cheddar Brioche, the Everything Croissant Tart, Caramel Pecan Sticky Bun, and a Churro Croissant. You can taste her love for what she does in her pastries! Andrea’s Favorite: Cinnaroll (the one that started it all)

Brightside Bakeshop

West Nashville: 4907 Indiana Avenue Nashville, TN 37209 / Located in the Nations/Curbside Pickup Only at this time. Wednesday-Sunday: 8:00am-12:00pm East Nashville: 713 Porter Road, Nashville, TN 37206 / Located in the Shops at Porter East/ Walk-Up Window Only at this time. Wednesday-Sunday: 8:00am-12:00pm Order online for Contactless Pickup: brightsidebakeshop.com

Andrea Borchers

BAKED IN NASHVILLE—Artful Creations Owner Tiffany Riches and the all-female team at Baked in Nashville specialize in custom wedding cakes, celebration cakes, and decorated sugar cookies. Providing everything from your child’s birthday cake, corporate logo cookies to celebrity wedding cakes, Tiffany and her team know that what you present to your family, friends, and clients is a reflection of you. This small, Nashville-based bakery makes everything by hand and from scratch using top ingredients like pure extracts and butter (no imitation flavoring or shortening here!). They have an extraordinary selection of French Macarons. Their cakes are works of art and labors of love.

Baked In Nashville

2616 Eugenia Avenue Nashville, TN 37211 / By Appointment / (615) 760-5101 / MondayFriday 9:00am-5:00pm/Saturday by Appointment

Tiffany & Laura, Baked in Nashville

Baked in Nashville

CAITYPIES BAKERY & BBQ—Let There Be Real, Good Pie Although Caity Guszkowski has expanded to Bakery & BBQ through the 2020 pandemic, the pies are still the heart of her East Nashville business. When asked, Caity said that “picking a favorite pie is like picking a favorite child, though there are a few on the menu that I’m incredibly proud to bake. Often it is the simplest looking pies that require the most advanced techniques and eye for the ovens. Black Sesame Sugar Cream and Coffee Chess challenge me the most and provide me with the most gratification at the dessert table. These flavors are sleeper hits with their own pie cult followings, and I’m proud to be their leader.” Caitypies features weekly specials from Mile High Lemon Meringue Pie, Nashville Banana Pudding Pie, Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies, Strawberry Pop-Tarts, a Miso Espresso Brownie, and a Dulce Krispie. We anxiously await when they can have their own brick-and-mortar bakery and can stop teasing us with their Instagram posts of “Frankenpie”—six slices of pie in one pan (you can special order if you want a large amount!). While you are at it, pick up a Chicken Pot Pie or some killer BBQ and Green Chile Mac N Cheese from Caity’s husband, pitmaster Chris.

CatyPies "Frankenpie"

Citizen Kitchen @ Hunter’s Station/975 Main Street / Suite 105 Nashville, TN 37206 / Pick up Fridays 1:00pm–2:00pm at Hunter’s Station/Deliveries Fridays 2:00pm–4:00pm within 8 miles of Hunter’s Station/Pick up Saturdays 10:00am-12:00pm at Richland Park Farmer’s Market Order online: Caitypies.com

Pies by Gigi

Something Sweet

Brightside Bakeshop

THE CUPCAKE COLLECTION—Sprinkled with Joy The Cupcake Collection story started in the middle of the 2008 recession when founder and CEO, Mignon François, took the last $5 she had for dinner one week and bought ingredients for what would eventually become a family legacy with over 5 million cupcakes sold. In addition to serving as the Director of Joy at The Cupcake Collection, Mignon lends her talent as a Nashville community cheerleader and entrepreneur to the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation Foundation, Nashville Entrepreneur Center, and to Pathway Women’s Business Center as a board member. Home of the original sweet potato cupcake, The Cupcake Collection has two sweet locations: Nashville and Mignon’s hometown of New Orleans.

Mignon Francis

“At The Cupcake Collection, we believe that good cake is connected to great memories and our cupcakes take you back to a nostalgic time or place when you experienced something that was made with love. To us, that equals joy, and the main ingredient baked strategically into every single cupcake,” said François. TCC has seasonal flavors such as Key Lime, Lemonberry, King Cake, and Classic flavors like Birthday Cake and Red Velvet. In addition to cupcakes, they have Celebration cakes to order (48 hours in advance). There is a reason that there is a line around the block at The Cupcake Collection—it is confection perfection!

The Cupcake Collection

1213 6th Avenue North Nashville, TN 37208 / (615) 244-2900 / www. TheCupcakeCollection.com / Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:30pm/Closed Saturday/ Sunday 11:00am-3:30pm / Order on Clover: https://www.clover.com/online-ordering/ the-cupcake-collection-nashville-nashville Brightside Bakeshop

The Cupcake Collection

PIES BY GIGI—Love at First Bite! Gigi Butler, entrepreneur, author, and founder of beloved national cupcake brand Gigi’s Cupcakes, has returned to her first love—pies! The storefront is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week and features a selection of pies, both sweet and savory. Notable items include a Peanut Butter Candy Bar Pie, Chocolate Fudge Pie, Chicken Pot Pie, Pimento Cheese Pie, Shepherd’s Pie, Breakfast Casseroles, Cobblers, and Bars. They have an Easter Menu available for order, too.

Pies by Gigi

330 Franklin Road, Suite 906D, Brentwood, TN 37027 / (615) 678-8434 / piesbygigi.com / Monday-Thursday 7:00am-7:00pm/Friday & Saturday 7:00am-8:00pm/Sunday 7:00am-6:00pm. Place orders 24 hours in advance. Pickups are available after 10:00am each day. Delivery cut-off time is 1 hour before we close each day.

SOMETHING SWEET, LLC—Tasty Treats and Sweets Alexis Hughes-Williams has been baking since she was eight-yearsold with her great-grandmother, grandmother, and her mother. Her recipes are all family-created and made from scratch. Her cookies, brownies, cake batter krispies, and snickerdoodles are available at The Café at Thistle Farms and International Tea and Coffee Company in East Nashville and available to order online on her website. Alexis bakes a decadent Sweet Potato Cheesecake that she can ship frozen anywhere. Her Signature Cookie: The Everything Cookie: an oatmeal-based cookie with pecans, chocolate chips, currants, and coconut.

Alexis Hughes-Williams

The Café at Thistle Farms/5122 Charlotte Avenue Nashville, TN 37209 / Monday 11:00am-3:00pm/Tuesday-Friday 7:00am-3:00pm / International Tea and Coffee/1006 Fatherland Street Nashville, TN 37206 / Thursday-Sunday 12:00pm-5:00pm To order online: www.somethingsweetllc.com

Something Sweet