Mikaylia Davis has custom made sweet treats to make your holiday a little bit more lovely
Picture this: it’s Feb. 14 and you’re about to venture into the grocery store at the last minute to grab that special someone a commercially prepared assortment of sweets. Romance may be dead but this scenario is completely avoidable with the help of Mikaylia Davis and her sweet treats. This second year University of Regina (U of R) social work student is about to debut a customizable Valentine’s Day treat box that will make your heart melt and leave that sweet tooth satisfied!
This is a great way to express your love to someone. People love sweets. People love a good cupcake.” – Mikaylia Davis
A sweet success
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Davis was living in Jamaica when her mother had signed her up for an online baking class, providing her daughter with supplies and a new skill to keep her mind off of the bleak times. Davis began baking almost every Sunday and started to grow a following of customers.
In Aug. of 2022, Davis’ family immigrated to Canada and she decided to take her business of selling cookies and cupcakes seriously. Ja’Mikan Sweetshop has now been “whisking up sweet dreams one dessert at a time” for four years and counting.
Davis says that the Regina community has been very friendly and supportive towards her business. However, as a full-time student and an active volunteer in the city, the business started to take a toll on her life last year.
“I’m a very social person. I would rather go out than stay in, so I was wondering [if] I should just pause my business for now,” she said.
She was given a sign to keep going when a fellow baker and close friend had proposed a collaboration project for Valentine’s Day.
They’re very presentable and they taste as good [as they look].” – Mikaylia Davis
Make your valentine feel special
In January, they opened orders for the Valentine’s Day treat box. It comes with three cupcakes topped with chocolate-covered strawberries and cream cheese frosting. Customers can choose between strawberry, vanilla, or red velvet for the flavour. It also includes chocolate-covered pretzel rods and three sugar cookies that customers can choose to add a short message on. Davis says the treat box is perfect for someone with a sweet tooth, but the customizable gift also shows a touch of thoughtfulness.
“This is a great way to express your love to someone. People love sweets. People love a good cupcake,” she said. “I love the personalized aspect of it because it makes a great difference to remember those simple intimate details.”
Davis has found that customers who speak different languages have taken advantage of the personalized message option.
“Someone came to us [asking] for writing in their language. That’s so cool because that brings a different level of intimacy than changing [it] into English which [might] not be your first language,” said Davis.
The boxes can also be adjusted to accommodate allergies or other requests from customers. “I try to cut down on the sugars and I’ve made gluten-free cupcakes, they taste and feel different [but] I’m willing to go the extra mile. Just because you’re ‘different’ doesn’t mean you can’t have a cupcake.”
Originally, they had planned to make about 30 boxes, but by the time the Carillon had spoken to Davis, every single box had been sold already. However, Davis assures future customers that she is still open to take orders despite the original Feb. 6 deadline.
Currently, she has over 100 cupcakes to make and get picked up or delivered by noon on Feb. 14 and 15. Estimating about five hours of prep and baking time in the morning, she assures that customers will receive a fresh batch of eye-catching treats.
“I love a neat and healthy looking cupcake. I believe a cupcake should have an extremely good amount of frosting,” she said.
Davis describes her cupcakes to be fluffy and its cream cheese frosting as not overly sweet. “They’re very presentable and they taste as good [as they look].”
Having done cupcakes for parties like birthdays and bridal showers before, Davis hopes to add something new to her menu in the future. She teased that cakes, cake pops, and edible images on cookies might start to appear as well. To inquire or place an order, visit @ja.mikan_sweetshop on Instagram!
