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Welcome to Oakville’s favourite bakery, The Sweetest Thing! When I found out last year that The Sweetest Thing was setting up a permanent shop on Kerr Street I was over the moon. I first met the incredibly talented owner and baker extraordinaire, Erin Nocent, 8 years ago when she was operating out of her Oakville home. Since then, my family and I have been entrusting her with creating the most delicious desserts for all our milestones. When Nitin and I got married our easiest wedding decision was who was going to make our cake …and cupcakes of course (it wouldn’t be a Khosla event without cupcakes). Never seizing to disappoint, Erin is truly one of the most talented bakers I’ve had the pleasure of working with and I couldn’t be happier to see her vision come to life in Oakville’s newest insta-worthy spot.

Opening in July of this year, The Sweetest Thing has taken Oakville by storm as our town’s newest, most beloved bakery. From cupcakes to cookies to custom orders (and everything in between), you’ll be hard-pressed to find a sweet tooth that isn’t head over heels with this place. Whether you’re looking to relax over cappuccino and cookies with the girls, grab some sweets for the road or place a custom order, I have no doubt you’ll experience love at first bite here.

I had the chance to catch up with Erin to learn more about the history behind The Sweetest Thing, and I’m super excited to share with you guys a peak inside her beautiful bakery.

How long have you been baking for?

I’ve been baking for around 12 – 13 years now. I went to baking school after university and I was around 24 years old at the time. I didn’t really consider it as a career until after I got my degree in Sociology  which wasn’t really my thing. Growing up I baked at home for my family as it’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing.

When did you decide you wanted to open your own bakery?

I worked from home for around 10 years and I always imagined how nice it would be to have my own bakery. It’s very daunting to think about creating a bakery and having to get all the money to buy the ingredients, equipment and all that stuff.

My husband Scott and I live across the street from here so when we saw this place came up for rent we thought maybe we should open up our own bakery. We talked to the real estate agent and two days later we signed. We didn’t know what we were doing and hadn’t planned anything. It took a lot to get the space fixed up to be what we wanted it to be, but we’re glad we took the leap. Scott and I decided to become business partners after we moved The Sweetest Thing out of the house.

How long did it take to create this bakery?

It took us 11 months in total. We had to wait around 5 months to get all our permits (we started with a place that was never a restaurant), so we did all the demolition while we were waiting. We got everything cleaned up during this time and started working on what we could. When we finally got the permits we ran at it full steam; got the contractors in, put in the electrical, tiled the floors. A lot of it was DIY from Scott and I. Scott did the renovation in our house so he learnt everything in our home …it’s not exactly my favourite thing to do.

The vibe inside The Sweetest Thing is extremely light, airy and inviting. What was your inspiration?

When we started we made a Pinterest board. Our inspiration was whimsical but not quaint, while still feeling fun and contemporary. We didn’t want to be too much of anything. We were going for elegant, not stuffy, and also inviting so people feel free to come in and sit for a while.

What has been one of the most challenging aspect of opening your own bakery?

Erin: Trying to find staffing. It was great in the summer when we had the high school girls here, and now we’re trying to find help during the day so I can spend more time in the kitchen.

Scott: For me, having the courage to believe in ourselves. You’ve got to believe in yourself and your vision, show up every day and then go to the next step. You need the courage to keep coming back and pushing that next barrier down. It’s all in the strength of Erin’s product. Her client list is so unique because of how strong her product is.

Erin: You never know if people are going to come in. The first day Scott asked how much to bake and I was like ‘I don’t know, let’s just bake a ton of stuff.’

Not only are you a powerhouse entrepreneur, but you’re also a wife and mom of two. How do you balance life?

It’s hard. It will be easier once we get some daytime staff so we can hang out with our youngest, Zack, during the day and pick up our eldest, Lucas, from school. Scott’s mom stays home with the kids so it’s super convenient.

If you had to pick one item for people to try when they visit The Sweetest Thing, what would it be?

My favourite cookie is the Ginger Sammy. It’s two ginger molasses cookies with buttercream frosting in between, rolled in some sparkling sugar. It’s pretty decedent.

Do you have a signature item at The Sweetest Thing?

Our signature, and most popular item is our Crispy Chewy which is our take on a chocolate chunk cookie. It’s a chewy chocolate chip cookie with crispy chocolate chip cookie bits baked in, and cut into rectangles.

Can clients order custom cakes?

I’m currently developing a line of ready-to-go cakes with set designs. Some will feature a chocolate or caramel drip, others will have sprinkles all over, and some have a little sprinkle on the bottom and cookies on top.

How much notice do you require for your ready-to-go cakes?

2 – 3 days depending on how busy it is, but the more notice the better.

What do you have in store for the upcoming holidays?

For Thanksgiving we’re doing pumpkin pies. Throughout the fall we’ll have our pumpkin spice loaves and apple crumble bars. The loaf has a pumpkin spice flavour with cream cheese frosting, and the apple crumble bars have a little oatmeal on the bottom, tons of apple and cinnamon in the middle and more crumble on top.

For Christmas we’re going to have cookies in a jar and cookie platters in different sizes. We’ll also have decorated cookies which can be personalized on the spot. You can pick your cookie, personalize it and we’ll package it up in a cute little box. You can order cookies ahead of time to be bagged and used as tags for your Christmas presents or even place settings.

While The Sweetest thing welcomes custom and wedding cake orders, their highly anticipated ready-to-cake cakes will feature their specialty; 4 layers of scrumptious, moist cake sealed together with 3 layers of heavenly buttercream.

You can visit The Sweetest Thing at 282 Kerr Street. Their hours of operation are Tuesday – Saturday 10:00am – 6:00pm + Sunday: 10:00am – 3:00pm (closed on Monday).

xo, Kiki