A skilled baker and Navy Reservist has opened Confectionery Charm in Hillsboro.
The bakery, at 10667 Hwy. 21, opened the first week of June and since then has been drawing a lot of attention from hungry Hillsboro residents, owner and operator Melissa Watkins said.
She sells a wide variety of baked goods at her shop.
“I do jumbo cookies – I call them gourmet cookies,” said Watkins, 39, who lives just outside Hillsboro. “They’re about the size of your hand. I change the flavors about every two weeks. I also make custom cupcakes. The cupcake flavors will change depending on how I feel and what I want to make.”
Other popular items include a lemon blueberry loaf, cake pops, gooey butter cake, custom-decorated cookies, muffins and a variety of cheesecakes.
“Everyone loves the cheesecake,” Watkins said. “Right now, I have regular cheesecake and turtle cheesecake. The cheesecake flavors will vary. I’ll always have plain, but there’s a new flavor every week. Last week, it was an Oreo cheesecake. This week, it’s a Snickers cheesecake.
“I’m also going to see about doing croissants. I did a test run on making croissants this past weekend. They were stuffed with a raspberry chocolate filling. That seemed to do very well, so I will probably do those again.”
In addition to her cookies and cheesecakes, brownies are another big seller, Watkins said.
“I call them my brownie slabs because they’re literally a slab. It’s a huge piece of brownie, and I feel like that’s everyone’s favorite,” she said. “I make about two pans a week right now, so that’s a hot one.”
Watkins originally hails from south St. Louis County, but she and her husband, Christopher, spent much of the past 15 years traveling to military bases across the country.
“My husband was active in the Army from 2006 until 2012 when he got out,” Watkins said. “And then I was active in the Navy from 2015 to 2019, and I’m currently in the (Navy) Reserves.”
In 2003, Watkins attended culinary school at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park.
“Then we joined the military, so I have been decorating cakes for over 10 years,” she said. “It’s always been a side project, a hobby, that brought me a little cash. The opportunity presented itself where I could try to do this in a shop and not out of my home. I just took it. I didn’t have a second thought. My husband supported me, and this is where we are.”
Watkins said the Hillsboro community has welcomed her with open arms.
“I have learned that people are very friendly,” she said. “I’m starting to see familiar faces, which is awesome, and people are so nice. I’ve gotten a very positive response.
“I’ve discovered the town of Hillsboro wants doughnuts. Doughnuts are huge! I partner with the Donut Hole to get doughnuts in here (on Friday, Saturday and Sunday) because, unfortunately, I can’t make them in the building at this time. That’s a plan for the future.”
Watkins said she bakes the rest of her offerings onsite, but she needs a sprinkler system before she can add a fryer that would be needed to make doughnuts.
“The hood for a fryer has to have a sprinkler system. That’s one of those things I have to save money for and then invest,” she said. “Once I have enough to put a sprinkler system in, I’m going to start doing doughnuts on my own. But until then, the Donut Hole is kind enough to supply me with what the community needs every weekend.”
Watkins said she wants to continue adding new items on her menu, but she must keep two considerations in mind.
“Right now, it’s about managing my time and the cost-effectiveness of things,” Watkins said. “I want to make sure I provide things the community wants, and that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m testing things out. I’ll post on Facebook to see what kind of reaction I get, what people like, what sells the most, and then I will go from there.”
One of the most sought-after services Confectionery Charm provides is custom cakes.
“This week, I have 26 orders to get out by Sunday – and it’s just me,” Watkins said. “I have to manage my time, and I have to get them done. I’m going to have to start saying no because quality means a lot over quantity. I want people to be happy with what they got.”
The Confectionery Charm shop is available to rent for birthday parties and do-it-yourself cupcake decorating parties.
“I am extremely grateful for the support this community has already shown me,” Watkins said. “I just want to say, ‘Thank you.’”
Confectionery Charm is currently open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call Watkins at 314-330-3169, email confectionerycharmstl@gmail.com or follow the business’s Facebook page for the day’s offerings.