Taste This!!! Sweets & Eats opens

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Wendy Rusch recently opened Taste This!!! Sweets & Eats at 110 W. North Shore Drive in New Richmond. The self-taught baker said she has always loved baking and is excited to offer her treats to people in the community.

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Local cupcake guru Wendy Rusch has been baking cupcakes for friends and family for years and after hearing nothing but praise and even winning a blue ribbon for her Carmel Apples she’s decided to start her own business.

Taste This!!! Sweets & Treats opened Wednesday, July 13, in the former T’s Meat Market location on West North Shore Drive.

Rusch, who used to provide in-home daycare, was pressured to open the business after providing cupcakes for her son’s wedding last year.

“That’s when I had people start calling me,” she said.

Rusch has been cooking and baking since she was a little girl, she said.

“I would bake with my grandma and my mom,” she said.

When a friend approached her about starting her business in the building at 110 W. North Shore Drive, she said it was something she couldn’t pass up.

“I’m still a little overwhelmed and scared,” she said. “But I love doing it. There’s no question there.”

In addition to cupcakes, Taste This!!! also offers cookies, bars and candies, she said.

“I’m known for my caramels,” she said.

Business has been booming since opening the doors on Wednesday, she said.

“We had a lot of people stop in last week,” she said. “We had tons of repeat business.”

The cupcake varieties vary from day to day, she said. The 24 Kt Taste cupcake, which is a carrot cake with orange ginger cream frosting, is the signature cupcake and will almost always be offered, she said.

In addition of walk-in business, Rusch said she’s also booking weddings and corporate events.

“I’ve had four inquiries for weddings so far,” she said.

At just a few dollars per cupcake, it’s uncommon for someone to leave the shop without some sort of sweet, she said.

Although she has several brochures with flavor listings, Rusch said she does accept specialty orders as well.

Rusch never took a baking class. Everything she makes was discovered by trial and error.

“I watch Cupcake Wars,” she said when asked about her training. “That’s all the training I’ve had.”

Taste This!!! Sweets & Eats is open Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The shop offers free Wi-Fi and indoor and outdoor seating.

Rusch said she also plans to offer coffee service in the near future.

For more information, call 715-246-7914.

Tags: new richmond, business, food