Who can resist an array of attractively presented sweet treats? Dawn Davis of Dawn’s Yummy Delights knows that people often eat with their eyes first, and has thus mastered the art of presentation when creating her scratch-made pound cakes, peach cobbler, banana pudding, brownies, candied nuts and more for crowds at farmers markets and events.
Davis has enjoyed baking since childhood, and many of her baked goods are her grandmother’s recipes. Davis’ mother, Yvonne, owned a beauty salon during the 1990s. Davis helped her part-time and also made lunches every Saturday to serve to the customers. “I really liked doing the desserts,” she said.
As a single mom raising two sons, Christopher and Alexander, Davis studied business and culinary arts and pastry at Milwaukee Area Technical College and Cardinal Stritch University. She graduated with honors from Art Institute of Phoenix-Culinary Program. She held various jobs while making desserts on the side.
Davis took an early retirement and moved back to Wisconsin about four years ago to help take care of her mother, and she decided to turn her passion for desserts into a full-time business. Davis does all the baking, and Christopher, Alexander and Yvonne help with market tasks and labeling product. Davis’ offerings are vast, and she usually has a few different items at every market or event. A recent visit featured goodies such as tangy, rich lemon pound cake, peach cobbler, banana pudding and Grammy’s Kandied Nuts, a delightfully sweet and salty, crunchy pecan that is great as a snack or as topping for sweet or savory dishes.
The “brookies,” a brownie-cookie with chocolate ganache topping, is usually a hit with customers, Davis said. Some of the brookies are topped with caramel and toffee. Autumn brings sweet potato pie and sweet potato bread, and strawberry bread is available in early summer. In addition to using many family recipes, she looks at other recipes and tweaks them to make them her own.
Davis also makes some savory items, such as chicken pot pie and garlic cheesy bread. She watches trends and pays attention to what people seem to like. In camaraderie with other food and produce producers, Davis gets ingredients such as strawberries locally whenever possible. Another vendor with whom she connected is helping her obtain pecans grown closer to home. She sourced pecans from local farms while living in Arizona.
Baked goods are packaged and sold in attractive individual-size servings, and customers can sample before buying. Davis makes party trays and caters treats for events. She also does custom sweet treat wedding favors (but not wedding cakes).
Although gluten-free and vegan items are in heavy demand these days, Davis observes that diabetics seem to have limited choices when it comes to desserts. She plans to add some diabetic-friendly items to her line of treats. She also hopes to open a café or food truck to offer coffee and desserts.
Dawn’s Yummy Delights can be found at farmers markets including the Garden District, Cedarburg, Whitefish Bay and Enderis Park. Davis has been to the Outpost Makers Market at Wellness Commons, and she’s working on lining up fall and winter festivals and events. For upcoming events or to place orders, search “Dawn’s Yummy Delights, LLC” on Facebook.
