Dessert of the Month: Mini Melanie
Our September Dessert of the Month business is Mini Melanie! They are a Dessert Goals Alumni and have been at many of our past festivals. We hosted our first IG Live with Melanie, who taught us how to make brownies - which you can watch here! Melanie also spoke on our How To Run A Food Business Panel at Digital Dessert Goals last month. Melanie is a Champion of Food Network’s CHOPPED (OMG!!) and is co-founder of Mini Melanie with her sister Diana. They make treats that are almost too cute to eat, but seriously they taste as great as they look.
Read on to learn more about Melanie, Diana and their business. Don’t forget to sign up by September 15th to receive September’s box from Mini Melanie! Sign up here.
Our September business creates the cutest cake truffles and other delightful sweets. Meet sisters Melanie and Diana, founders of Mini Melanie.
What is the origin story of Mini Melanie?
After working in restaurants (Babbo and Blue Hill at Stone Barns) for many years, Melanie decided that she was ready to step outside of the male-dominated restaurant world and be her own boss. She asked her sister Diana to join her on this journey of building the Mini Melanie brand. The company started with recipe testing in Melanie’s apartment, followed by one year at Hot Bread Kitchen’s food business incubator for women-owned businesses, before moving into our own commissary kitchen in Brooklyn. We have been expanding ever since.
Tell us the most rewarding part about owning a business? Where do you believe you get your entrepreneurial spirit from?
As small business owners, we not only get to do what we love and are passionate about on a daily basis, but we get to guide the company in different directions. Being small allows us to be nimble, take risks, and try new things. We love our loyal customers and seeing them enjoy our desserts and come back to include Mini Melanie in their many celebrations. We get our entrepreneurial spirit from our parents and grandparents as role models. We have always had a strong work ethic and the belief that you can take any concept as far as you’re willing to work at it.
What is your process of creating new desserts - like your new cookie cakes?
When creating a new dessert, we think first about our customers and their feedback, and of treats we’d want to bake a ton of day in and day out. We grew up eating cookie cakes at celebrations, and we wanted to create the ultimate cookie cake. With every dessert we develop, we try to make it both beautiful (think lots of wow factor for a memorable presentation) and delicious (with baked from scratch, “I need to take another bite” taste).
What is your favorite dessert recipe to make at home?
Melanie - the plum cake we grew up baking with our grandma and the Mini Melanie chocolate cake recipe
Diana - banana bread and the Mini Melanie salty brownie
Do you have any advice for others out there who are interested in starting a 'sweet' business?
Listen to your gut for every decision and learn from your mistakes. Think about your product and customer before all else. Always seek to improve! What is it like working with your sister? It’s the best! Our skills really compliment each other which is so important in finding a co-founder. We love that we get to spend so much time together and really know how to work well together, bring out the best in each other.
In 3 words, describe your brand.
Indulge, Decadent, Happiness
