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frankfortstation.com dining out
the frankfort station | March 15, 2018 | 27
The Dish
Créme bucks convention with low-sugar treats
Max Lapthorne
Contributing Editor
As of March 1, Sarah Ashley
Samara is all in.
Samara opened Créme by
Sarah Ashley — located at
11961 W. 143rd St. in Orland
Park — last June, but it
was not until the beginning
of March that she quit her
job to focus solely on running
the store. Since then,
she has been able to focus
on improving Créme (pronounced
like cream) and
also increase the store hours.
“I just have a lot more
time to focus here, and kind
of push more [items],” she
said.
The hours increase has
been the most noticeable
change, going from being
open only four days per
week to six. The most common
early complaint Samara
received from customers
was that the store was not
open enough, so she looks
forward to expanding her
customer base, now that she
will be around more.
“This is the first week
we’re actually open Tuesday
and Wednesday, and I can’t
believe how many people
came in that were newer customers
or existing customers
that said they would come
here more if [we] were open
more,” Samara said during a
March 8 interview.
The 26-year-old Samara
has had her sights set on
owning a bakery ever since
she starting baking on a
whim 10 years ago. She
studied marketing and sales
at the University of Illinois
at Chicago, but told her father
she wanted to pursue
her dream of owning a bakery
when she graduated. Her
dad responded pragmatically,
asking who was going
to fund the venture, leading
Samara to the job she held in
corporate America until several
weeks ago.
Créme existed for roughly
a year prior to the opening
of the Orland Park location,
but that marked Samara’s
decision to really get serious
about making Créme into a
profitable business. And so
far, the business is expanding
even faster than she expected.
“It was not even supposed
to be a storefront, to be honest;
it was more just for me
to bake,” Samara said of the
Orland Park store.
But almost immediately
upon Créme opening, customers
began clamoring for
there to be goodies available
up front at the store for easy
access. Samara obliged, and
now there are a number of
cupcakes on display at the
front counter, with different
combinations of the 35
cupcake flavors available on
a weekly rotating basis. But
if a customer’s favorite flavor
does not happen to be in
rotation, Samara is happy to
whip it up for them.
“If I’m here and you don’t
see a flavor you like, I can
actually make it for you,”
she said. “A lot of other bakeries
don’t really do that, but
we want to accommodate
everyone.”
When it comes to the
menu, Samara is always
willing to act on suggestions.
The most popular cookie
sold at Créme, peanut butter
chocolate ($2.50), was not
even going to be sold at the
store until Samara’s grandmother
suggested it should
be, because she enjoyed
them so much when Samara
whipped them up for her in
the past.
“People asked where the
recipe came from,” Samara
said of the peanut butter
chocolate cookies. “We have
Créme by Sarah Ashley
11961 W. 143rd St. in
Orland Park
Hours
• 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Tuesday-Friday
• 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday
• 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday
For more information ...
Web:
cremebysarahashley.
com
Phone: (708) 704-2535
that every week now, because
people keep requesting
it.”
The cake pops are the featured
items at Créme. There
are chocolate, vanilla, red
velvet and funfetti flavors
available for $2. And gourmet
flavors such as cookies
n créme, peanut butter
chocolate, mint chocolate,
pumpkin, cinnamon toast
and lemon are $2.50.
“We are known for our
cake pops,” she said. “Cake
pops are something I’ve always,
always done.”
Items such as cake pops
and cupcakes are known for
being chock full of sugar, but
that’s not the case at Créme.
All of the items served there
are low in sugar, which is
fundamental to Samara’s
way of baking.
“Why I do that is because
I absolutely hate the bakeries
that think people really
love sugar and they want so
much sugar in it,” she said.
“A lot of people that have
tried us, they actually prefer
[low sugar], because it’s not
overly sweet.”
Other popular offerings
include the loafs ($4.50)
which come in pumpkin,
pumpkin chip, banana chip
and banana walnut flavors;
as well as the doughnuts
(prices vary by size). Créme
Créme by Sarah Ashley’s birthday cake cupcakes (prices vary by size) feature vanilla cake
baked with rainbow sprinkles, topped with vanilla buttercream and sprinkles. Photos by
Max Lapthorne/22nd Century Media
Créme by Sarah Ashley offers a variety of cake pops, including chocolate sprinkle and
vanilla sprinkle (pictured).
had previously only offered
baked doughnuts, but by
popular demand they are
now venturing into fried
doughnuts.
But do not expect Créme
to turn into a doughnut shop
anytime soon.
“I will never steer away
from being a cake and cupcake
kind of shop, but we
do custom doughnuts and
we fry doughnuts,” she said.
“It’s just an added item.”
Going forward, Samara
is looking to expand the
store’s gluten-free options,
and add some vegan items
to the menu. And while the
increased hours have already
helped bring in more customers,
Samara is still hoping
to get more people in
the door, because she knows
once she does they will
come back.
“We know when you try
us, you love us,” she said.
“So, we just need everyone
to try us.”