The spring-2013 edition of IRISH, Notre Dame's alumni magazine, was recently published. One of the articles is about a 2005 Notre Dame Prep grad, Brooke Wilson, who opened up her own pastry shop in Royal Oak, Mich. Read about how Wilson's love of baking along with her expertise in marketing produced one of metro Detroit's most unique bakeries. The entire spring-2013 IRISH magazine can be found here.
Coming up with a name might seem to be one of the easier parts of starting a new business, but for 2005 Notre Dame Prep alum Brooke Wilson, it proved to be quite a chore as she worked to open her new pastry shop. That is until "Love & Buttercream" just popped into her head one morning.
"It’s really a cheesy story," she admits. "I had been thinking about a good name for weeks on end—poring over words and basically living on thesaurus.com. One morning I woke up and the first words on my brain were 'Love and Buttercream.'" She said she laid there half asleep for a while and then jumped up and ran to her computer, sure that she had stolen it from somewhere. Fortunately, she could find no other instance of the name.
Thus, Royal Oak's newest pastry shop was born. Love & Buttercream, on Crooks Rd. just south of 13 Mile Rd., is a full-service bakery that provides its growing customer base with everything from cookies to cupcakes and breads to breakfast pastries. Wilson said they also offer custom cakes, cookies and dessert displays.
"We cater special events, weddings, corporate events and just about anything under the sun," she said. "We bake everything from scratch using as many local products as we can and base our menu on what is taking root each season. Each one of our products is created with the customer in mind. Whether you're looking for a quick cookie and a coffee or a custom cake for your son’s first birthday, L&B is there!"
Formally schooled at Michigan State University, where she studied marketing and business, and the prestigious French Pastry School in Chicago, Wilson has always been comfortable in a kitchen. "I baked in my grandmother’s kitchen, my mother’s kitchen, my college kitchen and eventually my own kitchen before finally deciding that it was a career path for me."
After moving to Chicago, Wilson worked as a creative strategist in the innovations department at a restaurant company called Levy Restaurants. "My work focused around creating restaurant concepts and dreaming up new and unique food offerings, and really studying the relationship that people have with food—the emotional connection that people make with the things they eat." Since she loves to write, Wilson began a baking blog. "So as I continued to blog and learn more about the restaurant world, my life kind of started on a new path," she said.
Now, well into her second year in business, Wilson is having the time of her life. "Seeing a customer light up when they first look at their cake, or watching a guest shake her head and say 'mmmmm' with such excitement—that’s what it’s all about. The joy and the memories that our desserts can bring to people every day—that makes the late nights, early mornings and the rigorous cleaning rituals completely worth the effort."
What she also says was worth the effort was the time she spent at Notre Dame Prep. "I think that NDP prepared me by showing me a lot about structure and routine. I think I was well prepared to handle college and post-high school life because I had been given such structure in my academics throughout my high school years. I had been required to be responsible for my own actions, to be disciplined and focused on my own success, and I think that helped me dramatically in college and beyond."
Going forward, Wilson says she'd like to potentially expand into a second location or to another entirely different platform, though at the moment, she's so busy she can't really focus too much on that.
Running a business is hard, Wilson admits, and there are definitely challenges. "But, what we do here is so rewarding. Each night I look around before shutting off the lights and just smile!"
Love & Buttercream is at 3202 Crooks Rd., Royal Oak; 248-850-7207, loveandbuttercream.com. 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Tue.-Fri.; 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat.; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun.
About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.