Inspiring Conversations with Mae Karaan of Sugar Babies Bake Shop

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mae Karaan.

Hi Mae, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
It all started in October 2007 in Canada, it was my eldest son’s first birthday and I naturally needed a cake so I went to the grocery store and couldn’t find anything I liked. So I challenged myself to make it myself. My strength at the time was cooking, not baking, so I was out of my comfort zone. After a few YouTube videos, I ended up making a spooky graveyard buttercream finish cake with some ghosts on them since his birthday is a few days before Halloween. Although it was a horrible attempt, it sparked an interest I didn’t know I had in me so I continued to self teach myself via online videos and kept practicing. Eventually friends and family started requesting I make them buttercream, fondant and 3D cakes, which helped push me to learn more and grow in confidence and skills. Overtime, I was getting pretty good and I started a small home based business and started accepting customer orders along with family, friends and school requests. It all got flipped upside down when my husband lost his job in 2016. He found a job in California and we took a leap of faith and moved to USA in 2017. He has so much confidence in me and my biggest fan, so much so that he bought me an existing bakery called Sugar Babies Bake Shop in June 2019. It was nerve wracking and exciting at the same time. My husband Joe took care of the business part and I focused on operations and making cakes and other desserts. Eight or so months later, Covid hit and we had no idea what would happen. After a lot of prayer and focus, we were able to ride it through because of our church and community support and of course, our amazing loyal customers. We then had an opportunity to purchase one of LA’s iconic bakeries, Hansen’s Cakes, which we were able to do. We closed the deal late December 2024. It’s been a roller coaster of a ride but we’re posed for growth and we’re exited.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There were struggles when after we bought Sugar Babies, eight months later Covid hit and no one knew what would happen. Thankfully, we were able to ride it through. The other major challenge was that we were always at capacity mainly due other the limited space we had. We had to say no to a lot of customers because he had limited fridge space and a small kitchen. We thought about opening another location or renting a larger kitchen but then the Hansen’s Cakes purchase came up and helped solve that issue.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We specialize in buttercream and fondant finish cakes, 3D cakes, sugar cookies that are made with glaze instead of royal icing. It makes our sugar cookies so soft and tasty! We do use royal for accents on cookies but not like how others use it. We have the best cookie decorator in town, Theresa Rountree. She’s essentially an artist and her canvas is sugar cookies!
We also offer cake pops and cupcakes which we can also do edible images on, including our cakes.
Our brand values are found here: https://www.sbbakeshop.com/mission-values
Our commitment to giving back to our community for helping us in the past is so important to us. We continue to support many local schools and non profits, especially ones that focus on serving women and children.
Now that we own Hansen’s Cakes with its strong brand recognition, our goal is to tag Sugar Babies along to help elevate to where we’re known to be one of the best in town with customer service and quality products as our top priority.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
We love the weather, the diversity of the city and we’re foodies, so we love the different cuisines available from different countries/cultures. And this one is an obvious answer, we least like the traffic!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sbbakeshop.com
• Instagram: @sugarbabiesbakeshop
• Facebook: @sugarbabiesbakeshop
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sugar-babies-bake-shop-sherman-oaks