When you think of all the foods Connecticut is known for, it’s unlikely that vegan cupcakes and gourmet vegan soft serve come to mind. Dutch’s Cakes & Cones in Pawcatuck is trying to change that.
Owner Tiffany Shultz has been serving up cupcakes since 2018, but her journey into cooking began much earlier than that. She’s a graduate of Grasso Technical High School where she studied culinary arts. Baking, she jokes, was always something she was terrible at. Tiffany soon fell in love with all parts of the food industry and has worked in restaurants since sixteen.
Tiffany found her niche baking after selling some vegan cupcakes as a fundraiser for Myasthenia Gravis: an auto-immune disease her son was diagnosed with. After receiving feedback from customers, she moved to selling her cupcakes at local farmers markets and then to local cafes. Cafe Otis in Norwich and La Bella Auore in Niantic both offered retail locations for Tiffany, thus allowing her to get her foot in the door and reach a larger audience of customers.
Starting her own brick-and-mortar location seemed like the next move for Tiffany and Dutch’s (an affectionate nickname for her son). But it came with challenges on both the personal and global scale. Her son’s health declined in 2019 and shifted her focus from orders to helping her son get better. She also balanced her “day job” as a 911 operator with creating business plans, figuring out loans, and looking for a lease. Her son’s health improved after a few months and she was able to begin searching for a location: then COVID-19 hit. As a single mother working 2-3 jobs to support herself, her family, and her entrepreneurial goals, Tiffany was met with hard decisions and sacrifices.
Tiffany remarks that she’s only known business in the face of COVID-19. After finding a lease spot in Pawcatuck, she designed a series of careful sanitizing procedures and policies to keep her customers and staff, two nieces and her son, safe. Tiffany is hopeful that if the pandemic subsides, she will be able to offer sit-down seating and a wider menu.
The response from the community to the new vegan spot has been incredible. Customers have driven from nearly an hour away to sample the menu, which includes rotating gourmet “supreme” ice cream cones. This month, the cafe is featuring the s’mores: a dark chocolate waffle cone filled with swirled soft serve, vegan marshmallows, dark chocolate sauce, and graham cracker crumbs. Their bakery case is filled with fun cupcake flavors like banana pudding, death by chocolate, lavender earl grey, and more.
As a woman of color, Tiffany remarks how incredible, and fortunate, it is for her to have this experience. “I just processed my first payroll today and it felt insane,” she says. “I’m somebody’s boss. It’s my name on the check.” Although some vegan spots are popping up in cities like New York and Los Angeles, Tiffany says she doesn’t see the same plant-based entrepreneurship in the community just yet- especially facilitated by people that look like her. She hopes that Dutch’s can serve as an example for other businesses looking to appeal to plant-based (and veg-curious) customers.
Although financing and making her culinary dream a reality came with its challenges, Tiffany wouldn’t trade it for the world. And she doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon. Her goal is to reach a wider audience and ship cupcakes nationwide. Tiffany says, “what if people knew they didn’t have to sacrifice the fun of eating to save animals and minimize their impact on the planet? It’s not all tofu and kale. I eat pizza and pasta and tacos and cupcakes! As long as it’s delicious why not make it vegan?”
Dutch’s is located at 2 S. Prospect St. in Pawcatuck, CT. They are currently open for take-out Thursday thru Sunday from 12pm to 8pm.