Fork. Spoon. Life. Cookie creator.
Trisha Isaac can spend hours decorating just one cookie. Not a day goes by when she’s not thinking about cookies.
She’s developed a collection of more than 300 cookie cutters, and the guest bedroom in her family home is now officially “the cookie room.”
She started out with online tutorials, learning the painstaking art of perfectly frosted and decorated cookies. People took notice when she posted pictures online, but selling cookies was something she hadn’t considered until someone asked.
These days, cookie decorating fills her nights and weekends. She’s creating custom cookies for holiday platters, baby showers, birthdays and weddings. A married mother of two young children, she’s also still working full-time in marketing and sales.
For months, Isaac kept checking up on the Wisconsin cottage food law legal debate. She followed the Wisconsin Cottage Food Law Facebook page. When she saw a posting that the law had changed, she officially put herself out there.
The Frosted Cookie Bake Shop is a very part-time business at this point, with Isaac limiting herself to two orders per week. Orders are accepted no less than two weeks in advance. It saves her sanity and sleep while she dreams of transitioning to full-time business someday.
Isaac lives in Hartland with her husband, Joe, and their children, Jackson, 3, and Elliana, 20 months. Look for her on Instagram @thefrostedcookiebakeshop. Ordering information can be found on Facebook and at the frostedcookie bakeshop.com. Cookie inspiration
The way I got into this, I went to a baby shower about four years ago. Another family member brought some cookies. They were gorgeous and I was taken by them. I was so excited about the cookies.
Where did you learn to do this? I would love to do this!
They directed me to a website from a well-known “cookier,” as we call ourselves. Every time I would go to a birthday or shower I’d just make some and keep practicing.
The first ones I made were actually for my twin nephews’ baptism, and they were just crosses. I posted pictures of the cookies and a neighbor said “Hey, could you make some for me?” Bakeshop opens
The first few years, it was literally just for friends and family. Last year the fire started burning in me. My husband and I went to Door County, and there’s a cookier that I’ve been following on social media for a few years. She used to live in Germantown, and now she has a massive following on social media. She runs The Funky Cookie Studio in Sister Bay. We saw her shop and I saw my future dream in person. The game changer
We have not had a Wisconsin cottage food law that says we can bake and sell food out of your home. Until this month, it had to be out of a commercial licensed kitchen.
We went to look at houses that had a second kitchen that we could license. I looked from city to city, learning about regulations. It was disheartening. I didn’t know if this would happen. It’s a game changer. Patience and planning I’m a one-woman shop with two kids and a full-time job. I can only take so many orders. I’m going to open my calendar and take orders for the first quarter of 2018. I have to plan ahead.
My minimum order is two dozen, to make it worth it. The most I did in one week was four different orders. That meant four different color schemes. There were nights I went to bed at 3 a.m.
Her happy space
We just converted our guest room to the cookie room. My husband made me this beautiful 6-foot craft table. I bake in the kitchen, take everything to the room. It’s my happy place.
Icing adventures
The thing that I still don’t get right all the time is the icing consistency. A lot of times people see a cookie and ask “How did you get this so smooth?” It is a runny icing and you outline (the cookie) and flood it. Sometimes you make that too thin and you flood it and it runs out of the edge. The biggest thing is to realize that if it is not the right consistency, do not keep going. Fix it, remix it and start over again.
Decorator mentors
It’s mostly online resources. Sweet Sugarbelle, she basically lays everything out. That’s how I learned, through tutorials and recipes. Though I’ve gradually moved away (myself), anytime anyone asks me, that’s where I point them to. I use a different recipe now, one I’ve tweaked to my taste.
Flavor swap
I used to use an almond recipe, and it was good, but I think almond is like cilantro. You either love it or hate it, so I started using a vanilla recipe. Kids and cookies
My daughter doesn’t say a ton of words yet, but she knows cookie. Every time I make a set, I show them to my 3year-old son. He says “Can you save one for me?” I always make extra.