Sweets promote relaxation
Downtown Milwaukee is getting upscale, small-batch CBD bakery and confectionery.
In case baked goods didn't make you euphoric already: Downtown Milwaukee is getting an upscale, small-batch CBD bakery and confectionery next week.
Selling handmade macarons in flavors such as lavender lemon and blueberry plus ganache-filled chocolates, brownies, cookies and dog treats infused with CBD, Sweetly Baked will launch Sept. 7 to sell its goods online for shipping within Wisconsin.
It also will sell from a window once or twice a week; the first day for that will be Sept. 8 on the lower level of 770 N. Jefferson St., where Sweetly Baked's shared commercial kitchen is.
CBD products — sold at dispensaries and online stores that have mushroomed over the past few years to become a multibillion-dollar industry in the United States — are often touted as easing anxiety and promoting relaxation. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration still is researching the safety and efficacy of cannabidiol use.
Sweetly Baked's owner, Amanda Buhrman, said she baked to relieve stress during the lockdown and throughout the pandemic. Turning to CBD to help further with anxiety, she noticed the edible products available were mainly mass-produced gummies and chocolate bars. So, Burhman began looking into how to infuse CBD into her baked goods.
When the VISIT Milwaukee office where she worked as a digital marketing director reopened this year, Buhrman decided to turn her hobby into her career.
“I want to reinvent myself,” she said. “I just found an intense love for this.”
She researched how to legally open a bakery selling CBD-infused items, became licensed as a food retailer and developed Sweetly Baked's recipes and brand.
“I really want to lean into that small batch, more gourmet, handcrafted, nicer product,” she said, adding, “I kind of see it as an opportunity and a hole in the market.”
The bakery's items include either CBD or delta 8, considered a stronger form of CBD; both are derived from hemp rather than marijuana plants.
Items made at Sweetly Baked are dosed at 10 milligrams of CBD each (Buhrman doesn't bake cakes because dosage could vary with the sizes of cake slices).
“Everything I make follows the Wisconsin law,” Buhrman said, adding that she doesn't make any medical claims or promises about her products.
Prices will range from $2 to $5 an item, with delta 8 versions being more expensive.
Hours for the pickup window on Sept. 8 will be announced on Sweetly Baked's Facebook and Instagram pages. Future dates and hours will vary; they'll also be announced on social media. Buhrman also will reveal pop-ups, cafes and markets where she will sell more flavors and varieties of goods than will be available online.
She'll take larger orders at sweetlybaked.com. Macarons, for example, are sold online in packs of six, $20 for CBD infused and about $25 for delta 8. “I'm looking for it to be a giftable experience,” Buhrman said.
Purchases of single items and specials such as chocolate peanut butter cups will be through the window.
Buhrman, who lives in Shorewood with her husband and 11-year-old daughter, hopes to bring Sweetly Baked to farmers and makers markets in the coming months and is considering opening a storefront later.