RACINE — A sweet treat has a way of turning a bad day around.
Roshan Elias does not cut corners when she makes her cupcakes. All of her ingredients are high quality and fresh, and don't forget the most important addition:
"A lot of love!" Roshan says.
Roshan's love for baking started at an early age growing up in Malawi, in southeast Africa. But, the cookbook that got her started came from America.
"It was a book my aunt had," Roshan says. "I still remember, it was orange. I just, out of curiosity, picked it up, started looking. But, because I like baking, I went straight to the baking section."
Roshan's family encouraged her to learn and grow her baking skills. As an adult, she mostly sold her cupcakes at farmers markets.
"I had a lot of customers asking me, 'when are you opening?' And I'd always say, 'nope! I'm not opening!' I didn't want to have a store."
But when Roshan started getting huge orders for hundreds of cupcakes at a time, she reconsidered. Her customers have made it all worthwhile.
"They become family."
Despite opening the winter before the pandemic started, Roshan says those customers -- their love for her and her cupcakes -- helped her keep the business running.
"You have to build a relationship with your customers, because those are the people who support you on a daily basis," she says.
But at the end of the day, much of the success of Sugar and Spice Cupcakes comes down to Roshan's commitment to her craft.
"Don't give up," she says. "If you believe in what you are doing, keep going and someday it will happen! Just keep trying. Keep trying to make it better."
