Photo courtesy of Sweet Aniese Catering
Coming from a family of 11 children, Aniese Clay, of Sweet Aniese Catering, was always amazed by how her mother found time to cook three meals a day from scratch, bake dessert and occasionally repaint the walls or reupholster a chair while the kids were at school. This Supermom also kept a garden that treated the kids to fresh green beans, strawberries and rhubarb. Even more remarkable was that this was during the ’70s and ’80s, when many other moms were taking shortcuts at dinnertime using the growing variety of instant foods available in supermarkets.
Clay’s mother died when she was only 15, but she had paid careful attention while her mother whipped up family favorites like chocolate, lemon, coconut, German Chocolate or pound cakes, sugar cookies or banana pudding. Clay recreated her mom’s recipes by taste. She later perfected technical knowledge of baking through culinary management courses at Waukesha County Technical College.
It wasn’t until 2015 that Clay considered making sweet treats to sell at farmers markets. She made items that kept well under the summer sun, like sugar, chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies, brownies, blondies and bars, to sell at the Fondy Farmers Market. Her baked goods became a hit with customers, and if she had to miss a week at the market, people asked where she was. “I thought, ‘What if I did this year-round, with made-to-order treats?’” Clay reflects. “Then, I realized that I needed to go ahead and do it. It’s time.”
Through Sweet Aniese Catering, Clay will custom-make decorated cakes in most flavors, red velvet or German chocolate cake, loaves, cupcakes by the dozen, cookies, brownies, cobblers and plated desserts and dessert bars for parties and events. She focuses on simple, elegant presentations and decadent flavors, rather than fancy showstopper desserts. With adequate notice, she will take wedding cake orders for weddings with fewer than 100 guests.
Clay is still a one-woman business at this time and does everything herself, while still working a full-time job. Her 20-year-old daughter is her official taste-tester and makes suggestions. “I play around with a lot of products and cater to what people love,” Clay says. “I talk to people and see where they’re at and what they’re looking for.”
In addition to custom orders and catering, Clay has a booth at the Fondy Market during the summer months, where people can find her cookies and brownies. She also does special events such as the bi-annual Chili & Jewelry Sale at St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care. Clay recalls another childhood memory of stopping at her neighborhood bakery—Krueger’s Bakery, formerly on Center and Holton—on her way to school. There, her siblings and she had discovered German-style baking and got samples of treats and breads. Clay hopes to recreate that experience for future generations with a brick-and-mortar bakery and commercial kitchen (she currently shares commercial kitchen spaces with other businesses).
This past fall, Clay became one step closer to bringing that dream of a kitchen and bakery to fruition. She was selected for the Brew City Match program, backed by JP Chase Morgan, in which business owners will receive location selection support to be matched with vacant commercial properties throughout the Cesar Chavez Drive, North Avenue/Fond du Lac and Historic King Drive commercial corridors.
