Sweet sweet Hamden: New bakeries are being added to the town’s mix

When driving through the Hamden area, one finds a plethora of local businesses making up the heart of the community. Some of the most attractive are the sweet shops that can be found throughout the town, which now has three new shops making their presence known. 

Sweet Tooth Skewers (Instagram, Facebook)

This from-home sweet shop, which can be found on the south end of Cheshire, started with the idea of two brothers, Tye and Gage Canning, along with the support of their mother Lisa Canning. 

According to the family, the brothers visited a sweet shop in Rhode Island and after trying their candies they believed they could make their own business with more affordable pricing. The Canning brothers experimented with different types of candies and styles for their products, but believe they have found their formula since opening their business this past July. 

The theme of their business, as said in the name, are different varieties of candies, gummies, marshmallows and other tasty treats all colorfully designed and placed on skewer sticks for $3 a skewer, according to their Summer Grand Opening pricing on Lisa’s Instagram page. 

The family has described this as a teamwork business that also helps as part of their brand.

“He (Gage) does the packaging and does the ribbons and that type of things,” Lisa said. “He (Tye) does the marshmallows and puts the marshmallows on skewers, and I do the Skewer part.” 

According to the family, they estimate they’ve sold between 300-350 skewers in the time they’ve been open. The majority of these sales have come from kid’s parties, however, they hope to expand in the future to potentially retail stores and are looking to launch a website soon. 

The family also hopes to eventually be able to give some of their proceeds to various children’s charities. 

Sweet Seidner’s Bake Shop (203-850-7711)

This small business started five years ago. However, they just opened their first in-person bake shop, located at 2565 Whitney Ave., on June 14.

The idea started as an act of kindness from owner Jodi Seidner, who simply wanted to help her niece, who was going off to college, make friends. 

“I gave her the gift of two dozen cookies every month for her freshman year of college,” Seidner said. “It made it easier for her to walk down the hall and say “Would you like a cookie?” as opposed to ‘Hi my name is Anna.’”

After Seidner’s niece became the “cookie girl” and from helping other relatives going to college, Seidner said she noticed the impact her cooking was starting to have. After being asked repeatedly by her kids and knowing her passion was baking, Seidner opened a small cookie business and hasn’t looked back since. 

Today, the business is still known for its cookies but they also make various brownies, bars, macaroons and cakes, according to Seidner and the business’ website. 

The business has carried in the footsteps of Seidner, being able to ship boxes of cookies and other treats to college and boarding school students, however, anyone can order from the shop. 

Seidner says some of the shop’s most popular items are chocolate chip cookies, Jack’s chocolate chip bars and baked apple cakes which Seidner says are “the bestseller here in the bakery.” 

They don’t have an exact estimate on how much they bake monthly, however according to Seidner’s “most excellent” co-baker, Dave Wyllie, it’s “hundreds of dozens.”

Moon Rock’s Gourmet Cookies and Gift Baskets (203-404-4964)

This business is the most established of the three, making its first sale on Sept. 13, 2014, and opening its first store the following year on Oct 13, 2015. The business has since moved to its new location at 2518 Whitney Ave. , according to its website.

The passion behind this business is based on a mother’s dream and a daughter’s wanting to fulfill it. 

“My mom (Cynthia Rae) was a single mom, worked three jobs, and put herself into culinary school,” said Marni Rae-Esposito, owner of the shop and daughter of Cynthia.

While at culinary school, Rae created her “secret recipe,”  which consisted of the cookies available at the store today. After years of family and friends loving the cookies, and based on her mother’s dream to open a store, Esposito said she helped her mother take the next step. 

“When I left my corporate job, I decided it was time to make my Mom’s dream come true,” Esposito said.

The business took off quickly. According to Esposito, Moon Rocks was selected best chocolate chip cookies in the state, only three years after opening. 

“I thought we were gonna have a heart attack, both of us,” Esposito said.

Today, the business is known for its various all-natural flavored circular cookies, shaped like rocks, along with its gift baskets, which Esposito views as a very important part of their business. 

Esposito says she is most proud of the culture the business has made where customers are treated like family and given strong customer service. 

It’s estimated that the company sells anywhere between 200,000 and 300,000 products per year, according to Esposito.