By Becky Streeter
Every wedding has to have a dessert–why not an award-winning, locally baked and decorated one for yours? Head over to the Bloomer Bakery in Bloomer, Wi and ask for Chrissy Meisner. During a 30 minute consultation, and after some mouth-watering samples, you’ll have the details narrowed down for your dream cake, and it’s sure to be a masterpiece.
Four-time winner of the Best In Show Award for her cakes at the Wisconsin Bakers Association’s FreshEx Competition (including this year’s competition!), Chrissy came from humble-baker beginnings. Eighteen years ago, she signed up for a cake decorating class at a craft store because she wanted her son to have a special cake for his first birthday. During the class, Chrissy discovered not only a knack for decorating, but also a joy. She continued taking classes, started teaching, and worked her way up in the industry to become a professional baker/decorator. In 2014, Chrissy purchased the Bloomer Bakery in Bloomer, Wi and now decorates there full time.
Just five years after that first decorating class, Chrissy plucked up the courage to enter a competition. She won the silver award at her very first show. Since then she has won many awards, including the Best In Show nine times in the past eight years at various competitions. Some of her favorite submission themes have been wine, under the sea, and blown sugar lemons.
To say the least, Chrissy loves decorating cakes. “One of my favorite things about cake decorating is sharing people's special moments with them,” Chrissy says. “We are there for baby showers, first birthdays, sweet 16, graduations, weddings, then back to baby showers. I just love when a couple I made a wedding cake for comes in for a baby shower cake. Owning a long-standing bakery, we even get to recreate cakes from year's past for anniversaries.”
You can call and discuss the details over the phone, or schedule for a half hour, in-person consultation and free samples. Many people have a general idea for their cake, and Chrissy helps customize it by getting the specifics, correct colors and borders, etc. Two and three tier cakes are the most common, and then people often add a sheet cake, cupcakes, cookies, bars or even donuts to go with it. Chrissy also tries to stay within the couple’s budget. “We can keep things simple to decrease the cost, or go extravagant for an extra charge,” she says. “We do our best to keep small town pricing while still providing the amazing small town bakery quality.”
As for the big day, you can have it delivered or pick it up. If you choose to pick it up, Chrissy recommends you drive a SUV and have the back end completely empty. Also check to make sure the trunk doesn’t have a slant as even the slightest slope can cause things to shift on the way. “When I had to do my first delivery,” Chrissy reminisces, “I was told ‘You know that little old lady that goes slow and annoys you while driving? Drive to annoy her.’"
Chrissy’s cakes make an impression with both the design and flavor. “Our cake speaks for itself,” Chrissy says. “We often hear back from brides that people ask where they got their cake from because it was so good (usually it’s when they have the Raspberry Lemonade or Salty Caramel flavors–both gold ribbon winners).”
To learn more about Chrissy’s cakes or to get an order started, call the Bloomer Bakery at (715) 568-3321 or visit facebook.com/bloomerbakery.