Vendor Spotlight: Muino Baked Goods
Annmarie Muino has always loved to bake. Whether it was for home, for friends, or for family parties, she was always the one making cookies and cakes everyone loved. Then, about ten years ago her friends started making requests, and she found herself not just baking, but selling her baked goods, too.
Then in December of last year, she went all-in, and made her side business official with the opening of Muino Baked Goods. Although she bakes out of her home, rather than in an industrial kitchen, Muino has all of the certifications and qualifications required of any New Jersey based food business, including ServSafe. This is her first season selling to the general public, and she’s proud to be a part of the West Milford Farmers Market vendor team.
“Everything is moving along kind of slowly [since the business opened], but in a good way because I can keep myself organized,” Annemarie said.
Best sellers for Muino Baked Goods
Keep an eye out for some of Muino’s fan favorites: crumb cake, a gluten-free almond macaroon cookie, and her ever-popular chocolate chip cookie. All of these can be found at Market each week. She also makes cakes, including carrot cake, red velvet cake, and classic crumb cake. A new product is her “cake in a cup,” made with layers of cake and frosting in an 8 ounce to-go cup.
In addition to purchasing ready-made options, customers are encouraged to request custom orders. Come with an idea, and Annmarie will turn it into a one-of-a-kind edible creation. Sometimes people will send her photos of cake or cookie concepts they found online. Sometimes they’ll come to her with a rough idea of what they want. In the end, what they get is handmade to order and baked with love. The proof is in the taste, as her products don’t only look beautiful, but they stand on their quality.
A labor of love
To Annmarie, the act of baking is about more than just the finished product. The art of baking is a form of stress relief for her, and her favorite part is seeing people enjoy her baked goods. She’ll purposely make things she doesn’t even like so she doesn’t find herself overindulging. She just loves to bake.
From a young age, her children were in the kitchen baking with her, too. Even though they are grown now, her youngest still helps out by creating and helping to manage the company’s social media sites. Otherwise, Muino is a one-woman operation. But she still dreams of having a brick-and-mortar location.
Find Muino each week at market, as well as this coming weekend at the Franklin/Ogdensburg PBA Local 404 Food Truck Festival this Saturday at the Sterling Hill Mining Museum.
Visit Annmarie online at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076614529641 to see some of her custom creations, or feel free to ask her your questions at Market this week.
