After spending close to a decade with the Hamilton Police Service, including six years as a police officer, Katherine “Kat” Dougherty decided to pursue her passion for baking cakes, launching Cake & Crumb in 2020.
Dougherty, who makes her home in Paris, Ontario, grew up in a family that loved to bake, which rubbed off on her, setting the stage to begin a second career decades later.
“Growing up, my grandmothers loved to bake. One owned a bed and breakfast and always made everything from scratch, including her own fresh bread. And my other grandmother, as well, cooked and baked everything from scratch, too. My mom would make cakes for my sisters and me for every birthday. We grew up baking everything at home, and as I got older, that was the norm,” Dougherty recounted. “Later on, I took a cake decorating course, making cakes for my kids and my friend’s kids, and then when the Pandemic hit, my son was two, and he was dealing with some health issues and required a 24-hour caregiver. I would end up resigning from policing in 2020 and decided to start back up with baking and cake decorating. I then decided to rent a spot in the Paris Wincey Mills to sell baked goods on the weekends, and things kind of took off from there. My son would get better, so I was then able to devote more time to work and build the business.”
However, Paris Wincey Mills provided Dougherty with the perfect venue to help grow her experience and build an invaluable network of entrepreneurs in the community.
“Everything fell into my lap at the right time. I had just quit work and was looking for a commercial, kitchen space to rent [while] trying to navigate towards a completely different field of work. There was a local restaurant in Paris that graciously let me rent their kitchen so that I could bake all of my things there and then sell out of Paris Wincey Mills. I have nothing but great things to say about everybody who worked there, including all of the small businesses. It was like a family, with everyone looking out for everybody else’s best interests. To be honest, it was the opposite of what I imagined,” the entrepreneur stated. “The Paris Wincey Mills and the Paris Beer Company were always the first ones to offer a helping hand, no matter what the issue was. When I started there, if I was dealing with something and didn’t know how to solve it…they’d be the first ones to help you out and do whatever you needed to do to thrive. I believe that contributed heavily to why the business has succeeded.”
After two years, Dougherty realized she needed to transition to a bigger space while teaming up with her twin sister, Nicole Steiger.
“It was very obvious that the stalls there were quite small, and it was getting to a point where I was turning down so much work because I had to bake things off-site and then prepare them at Paris Wincey Mills, basically working around the clock. It broke my heart to turn down orders,” she said. “I have a twin sister who has some bridal stores in the United States. She sells wedding dresses, and she wanted to open a location here in Canada. So after about two years at Paris Wincey Mills, I made a plan with my sister to build something where we could do a bridal store slash wedding cake bakery, side by side, and that’s what we eventually did in West Brant.”
Nevertheless, there were some challenges in developing the new location.
“There were quite a few challenges, like figuring out how to actually do the build-out while complying with all of the city regulations. The City of Brantford was actually wonderful in helping guide us along. But at first, it was a bit overwhelming because there are so many aspects to think of in terms of the physical location: ‘what is going to meet everyone’s needs?’ ‘How do we actually build it?’ ‘Where do we find people to build it?’ And of course…dealing with the original landlord we had there. Our current landlord is amazing, but the building that we opened in was owned by a company that eventually went under, so it was a solid year of construction and many unknowns as the bank ended up foreclosing on that property,” Dougherty explained. “It was a very stressful time as I just cashed out my pension and put everything into doing this project. But the city, along with other businesses in Brantford, has been great. All the city services, including the health department, the fire department, and everyone who does the licensing, were extremely helpful. I truly feel like they want small businesses to succeed. [However,] what I quickly learned through all this is that there’s definitely no handbook when opening a business, and you have to basically roll with the punches as new problems emerge. I can see why a lot of people either get halfway and give up or just don’t have the heart to finish it, because it can be really frustrating.”
As Dougherty became settled in the new location, she could now become focused on creating and delivering on Cake & Crumb’s bread and butter, custom cakes, including wedding cakes.
“We’ll probably finish off the 2025 year with around 600 cakes, and half of those being wedding cakes. We also have a smaller menu that I created because of the Pandemic…smaller cakes where people can order from us through our online menu. The whole premise is giving customers the option for a cake that starts at around $40, which, for example, isn’t a complex wedding cake. If you want to order off the menu, customers have a good range of cakes which they can order last minute,” the cake designer said. “Or for larger events, people can email us in advance, and we can give them quotes. We also do walk-in traffic, so if people are out in our neck of the woods during the day, they can pop in. We always have a selection of freshly baked items and cake cups that people can purchase. They also have an opportunity to try our flavors before they go ahead and buy a cake too.”
The bakery has also offered high tea, which has become a popular menu option, especially during specific times of the year.
“The point of doing the high tea came out earlier this year, around Valentine’s and Mother’s Day, where people were looking to send little food gifts out. We actually started with delivery and with the catering, and then high tea catering at the same time. So, a few times a year around Mother’s Day, people will be able to gift mini sandwiches, macarons, and French beignets. It’s a good option for people who are having ten to 30 guests over at their house. And, it just fills the gap between having to go to the grocery store or committing to a large catering budget,” she noted.
However, one of the most important clients as well as supporters has been two key businesses.
“Pearle Hospitality, which owns the Ancaster Mill and the Cambridge Mill, has been a massive supporter of Cakes & Crumb. They actually have us contracted to do all of the wedding cakes for all of their weddings, which is why we do so many per year. And the Arlington Hotel, which is owned by the Carmens Group. Those partnerships started because I was in Paris Wincey Mills, and we’re just a stone’s throw from the Arlington. One day, somebody from there had ordered some desserts, and I dropped them off after work for their staff. I didn’t know it at that time, but that gave us a foot in the door with them because they would then ask me to make them cakes for their clients that had events there,” Dougherty explained. “That one moment really gave my business a big boost. I do anywhere between two and four weddings each weekend there. And we have seen an increase in people coming to our bakery because they had one of our cakes or desserts at events at the Arlington, the Ancaster Mill, or the Cambridge Mill.”
Along with the tremendous support from the community, Dougherty discussed the impact of collaborating with her twin sister, Nicole.
“She lives in the United States, moving there when she was 18 after earning a soccer scholarship. For the last 20 years, we’ve been living apart, and have tried to visit each other as much as we could. But when we started this project together and created these ‘twin sister’ stores, we were in communication all the time. Nicole has already had a lot of success with her bridal stores and bridal line in the United States, so when we thought of bringing her line up here with a store beside mine, it was the perfect combination,” she said. “Our two stores are connected. I have customers who come to me for catering, or they come into Mon Bijou Bridal, and we get business from each other. We just play off each other’s strengths, and it’s great having her as a pillar of support, as she has a master’s in business and is so business savvy. So, coming in cold from policing with no idea of running a business, she has been amazing in helping me out.”
Being in business for five years now, Dougherty has revealed the loyalty found in the community.
“The community in Brantford and Brant County is wonderful, and I have so many great customers. I know that these customers can always find a cake cheaper somewhere else…and there’s nothing wrong with going to the grocery store, but I know that people choose to spend a little bit more money to support small businesses, and get something that will exceed their expectations,” the baker noted. “In some cases, I found myself doing five, six, seven, or eight cakes for some families in a year…getting all their cakes from me for special occasions like their kids’ birthdays or Christmas. People come to me because they find it’s important to support a business like Cake & Crumb because we care about the community too, and pride ourselves in making great cakes. It’s a great community we have here, who truly support each other in many ways.”
