Diet-Conscious Pastries for All the Right Reasons

A young Parsippany entrepreneur says she's a woman with a mission and the drive to pave her road to success.

Michelle DeMarco, a 2008 graduate, recently launched her own retail bakery, which offers custom cakes, pastries and other baked goods and desserts. Her enterprise is not like most bakeries: The Butter and Bean puts an emphasis on accommodating individuals of all ages with dietary restrictions.

DeMarco, being a Type I diabetic, has a personal interest in healthy baked treats. This type of product informed her decision to attend the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan after spending two years as a biology major at Montclair State University.

“It came down to junior year," she said. "I realized that I didn’t have the passion to [go into medicine], but I still wanted to be creative,” said DeMarco, who originally sought to become an endocrinologist. “I wanted to be able to do gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, dairy-free [goods].

"I make my pastries taste delicious and make my cakes look like cakes you see on TV," she continued, adding that part of her mission is to accommodate children and adults who have these dietary issues.”

DeMarco recently took her home-based business—she does not yet have a storefront, but hopes to reach that level in the not-too-distant future—to the Internet. As tech savvy as anyone else in her generation, DeMarco uses social media tools such as blogs and Facebook to spread the word of The Butter and Bean.

“Right now, I’m trying to get a clientele,” DeMarco said. “I blog about it, I have a Facebook page, I’m giving out orders and business cards, visiting doctor’s offices for dietary issues and just trying to get my name out there.”

From those who have already ordered from The Butter and Bean, the reviews have been very positive—and personally rewarding.

“It’s the most gratifying thing; it’s what I love about what I do," said the health-minded baker. "I had an order for someone where I had to do a gluten-free princess hat cake. The little girl started crying and said, ‘That’s for me? I can eat that?’” DeMarco recalled. “That’s so gratifying for me, to get that reception and have mothers be like, ‘Thank you so much for the cupcakes for my child’s party.’”

DeMarco said that sense of gratification, along with a love and commitment to her new business, that makes her feel positive about her work every day, regardless of the economy's fickle nature.

“The first week when I started my Facebook page I did really well, and then I got no orders, and then I got a few," she saidm acknowledging how difficult it is to start a new business. "It is touch and go and it is scary, but I signed an agreement with myself when I left before going to med school that I wasn’t in this to become wealthy; I did it because of love and passion.

"The passion of being a young entrepreneur is something that’s beyond satisfaction. It’s great.”

DeMarco said she hopes that her self-marketing strategies can help her inspire people, especially teens with dietary restrictions. A large part of how she does this is through her blog, “Irony and Icing," a self-rated, PG-13, “real” look at the life and times of a young adult living in America today.

“It’s not necessarily all about baking," she explained. "It’s more or less about a young girl dealing with diabetes, dealing with the issues of starting a business, being young and all the encounters that you come across,” DeMarco said. “I hope to inspire people and [let them know] that I know what they’re going through.

“I’m trying , through my business and through my blog, to create a self-brand and reach people that are going through any kind of dietary issue,” she continued.

Through it all, DeMarco said she is very excited for what the future holds—and is having a blast finding out.

“I’ve always been very driven, very ambitious,” DeMarco said. “I obviously hope to have a brand for myself and to be known and be able to be in this forever.

"It doesn’t feel like a job; that’s the greatest thing.”