EXPERIENCED local baker Jessica Bickers is the friendly face behind the counter in New Norfolk’s newest shop. Jessica opened her first shopfront business – Caked by Jess – on AFL Grand Final day last month and did a roaring trade despite closing at 2pm for the big game.
Her shop at 7 High St is next door to the place where she learned her trade more than a decade ago at the Top of the Town Bakery under former owners Sandy and Anthony Turner. Her four-year apprenticeship covered all aspects of baking bread, cakes, pies, slices and even making coffee. She also did some front of house work and is enjoying having previous customers popping in to her new shop.
She later worked at Bakers Delight at Eastlands and was second in charge of the bakery at Coles in Kingston. She started her own cake decorating business in 2016 and was a regular at the New Norfolk Market for a time. Frequent cancellations at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic forced her to pause that business for about 18 months.
Now she is back in business, both with her High St presence and online at www.cakedbyjess.com. “We had a great opening day and sold out for the next few days,” Jess said. “There has been great feedback on our cupcakes and there’s more to come, including creamcakes once the fridge arrives.”
For now, there’s great hot and iced coffee and chocolate, as well as cakes, cupcakes, cookies and slices which are baked fresh every day, and salad rolls made to order. The shop is open from 6am-4pm, Monday to Saturday.
Picture: Jessica Bickers in her new shop at 7 High St, New Norfolk.
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