Sweet Doctors moves bakery closer to The Mall at University Town Center
UNIVERSITY PARK -- Bakers Michael and Cheryl Stinson used to spend a lot of time on the road transporting their treats from south Sarasota to The Mall at University Town Center.
It wasn't ideal, but having their Sweet Doctors retail operating centrally located in the mall was vital to serve their customers -- some who come from as far away as Orlando -- for frosty cupcakes and iced cake balls.
After more than six months of commuting between the bakery and the mall, the mother-son team decided it was time to move the bakery to 7638 Lockwood Ridge Road. The bakery is open to the public.
The commute that used to take 40 minutes to an hour from their South Tamiami Trail bakery is now just five or 10 minutes.
"He was spending so much time driving when he really needed to be here," Cheryl Stinson said of her son, Sweet Doctors' self-proclaimed "cake baller" Michael Stinson. She coordinates events for the company to cater while Michael Stinson does the behind-the-scenes baking and decorating. Weddings are a substantial portion of Sweet Doctors' clientele. And one of their most popular items is their cake ball towers, set up on location.
Michael Stinson is the brains and crafty hands behind the shop's cake balls, though he gives a lot of credit to growing up around his mother's baking. Cheryl Stinson said she's baked with Michael since he was young.
But Cheryl Stinson and Sweet Doctors' pastry chef Ana Mihajlovic said it's Michael's magic touch that shapes the cake dough into perfectly portioned and round balls for frosting.
"Ours just come out like eggs," said Mihajlovic laughing.
A small tower of cake balls can take up to eight hours to finish from mixing the dough to putting the final garnishes on top. A larger one could take all day.
"And sometimes all night," Cheryl Stinson said with a smile. "It's a lot of detail and a lot of work that goes into it."
The Stinsons focus on creating their treats with high-quality ingredients. All of the chocolate used at Sweet Doctors is imported from Belgium and everything is mixed by hand and baked fresh every day. In their new Lockwood Ridge location, they also started carrying McClain's ice cream -- a fellow Sarasota business.
"That's why we like McClain's," Michael Stinson said. "It's local and all fresh ice cream."
Gourmet pretzels, decadent popsicles and specialty doughnuts are also available at the Lockwood Ridge bakery. Soon they also plan to carry jams and jellies. The Stinsons are already preparing themselves for Florida's busy season. They said they'll need to hire at least one more cake person to keep up with demand.
"It'll be here before you know it," Cheryl Stinson said.
At the end of the day, even though the first few years required a lot of driving, Michael Stinson is happy he followed his dream. The 24-year-old will celebrate Sweet Doctors' fourth birthday in September and he worked hard to get a shop in the mall at UTC.
"Just do what you want to do," Michael Stinson said, expressing his philosophy. "Live your vision."
"When he first said he wanted to be in the mall, we all laughed at him," Cheryl Stinson said. "But he got a meeting with them, and it was supposed to take them a while to call us back, but they called him the very next day."
Sweet Doctors has the ideal location in the mall at UTC, too.
"You can just park, run in and run out," Cheryl Stinson said. They're located near the Macy's at the north mall entrance.
Other products offered at Sweet Doctors include tarts, pies, cakes, cookies, cheesecakes, breads, muffins, coffee, cheesecakes and more.
For information and pricing, visit sweet-doctors.com or call the store at 941-922-2176.
Janelle O'Dea, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095. Follow her on Twitter @jayohday.
This story was originally published August 4, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Sweet Doctors moves bakery closer to The Mall at University Town Center."