Home Sweet Bakehouse coming spring of 2025

By Robert Williams

Editor

Karey Smagacz, owner of Macarons & More by Karey LLC, is the first person to answer a well-asked question in Frazee. When is a new business going to move into the downtown retail building? That answer will come in the spring of 2025 when Karey turns her cottage baking business centered on macarons into a full bakery in the building’s western-most unit next to the post office.

Smagacz grew up in Frazee and graduated in 2014. She and her husband Chad have three kids 8, and 4.

“My youngest is a cookie snob,” Karey laughed. “I had him in February 2020 and then I started dabbling in it in November. By the time I started selling stuff, he was old enough to take a little bite and now he refused to eat regular drop cookies. He is such a cookie snob, but he will eat macarons!”

She is changing the names of her business away from macarons to Home Sweet Bakehouse. The name is a homage to the baking artistry of Brooke Bellamy, owner of Brooki Bakehouse in Brisbane, Australia (brookibakehouse.com).

“I just love all the stuff that she does,” Smagacz said. “She has been a really big inspiration.”

Karey was inspired to get into baking and the business after learning about the difficulty in making perfect macarons.

“It was a challenge to myself,” Smagacz said. “I watch baking shows and they said that making macarons was really hard. I said, ‘I can do that.’”

She began her pursuit of perfecting macarons in 2020. Macarons are sandwich-like cookies with a filling inside two shells, while macaroons are solid throughout. Macaroons are denser and chewier than macarons.

By Valentine’s Day of 2021, she was officially in business selling her macarons.

Prior to her business taking off, Karey was living in Sebeka, baking and painting boats at Lund Boats in New York Mills. After a promotion to a trainer in the paint department, a surrogacy, she stopped baking and selling while working overtime at Lund. With the pregnancy, she decided she needed to cut something out of her busy schedule and baking was put on hold for a year.

Next, she went to college to pursue a degree in social work. Chad was working for BNSF and the family moved to Frazee.

“That summer, I decided to start baking again because I wanted to do something besides just being in school, which was still a lot of work because I hadn’t been in school for a decade,” she said. “I started baking again and it was a lot of fun.”

Smagacz stayed busy choosing events to showcase her goods around the region.

She completed her associates degree but baking had now taken over her school pursuits.

“I just kind of wanted to do this now,” she laughed.

Perfecting the macaron was as difficult as she was told and it took some time to master the delicate, French dessert and overcome some unique pitfalls specific to the macaron. 

“It took a long time; it’s a science for sure,” she said. “Mostly, it’s making sure you make the meringue right. Ratios are important, weighing ingredients, not using cups. You have to be precise. The humidity of the day can ruin them. You can get a batch of almond flour that has a little more oil in it. There are so many things.”

Karey found a lot of success in having a unique product and began to near the income limits of a cottage licensed baker. Approximately, a year ago, she began looking for a commercial space and started that search in Detroit Lakes.

“I couldn’t find anything,” she said.

There were two buildings available but they were not suitable for what Karey wanted. One of her main interests is to own her own building. While that is not currently the case in downtown Frazee, Economic Development Authority (EDA)Consultant Karen Pifher sold the idea of leasing in the new building. For Karey, it was a less permanent way to figure out if her bakery business was going to be viable here.

“I had an opportunity come up in Detroit Lakes before I signed the lease and we went and looked at it,” she said. There were a couple things. I felt the support I was getting from Karen and the community was a little more here and part of my business plan is I want to do retail stuff too. I want to have a spot for baking-related things to sell. I would love to come into a store and say, ‘my gosh, they have that stuff I have to order online because you can’t get it anywhere around here, not even in Fargo.”

The remaining units in the retail building are unfinished and Karey is currently waiting on EDA approval of her designer and their subsequent design plans for the interior that will then need approval from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). Building permits will be sought during the MDA approval process.

Karey is paving the way for her soon-to-be new neighbor in the building. Also planned for a spring 2025 opening is Sara Erickson’s Mama’s Pizzeria N Scoops. The two have already discussed potential plans to collaborate.

Working with other area businesses in Frazee and Detroit Lakes is part of Karey’s business plan. Given how many events she has attended around the area, her name is out there for potential collaborations outside of the area. The announcement of her bakery opening garnered mention in multiple online Fargo foody outlets. 

“I’m going to be outsourcing too, for myself, like Creamy Creations so I can have cheesecake and not have to make it because I already have a million things to do,” she said.

Karey currently features cake push pops, waffle tacos, caramel rolls, marshmallows and gourmet drop cookies to go along with her namesake specialty. The bakery is going to expand her menu considerably to include donuts, croissants, scones, cinnamon rolls, and bars.

Everything she bakes is from scratch, which has created more learning scenarios like how to perfect croissants and created questions on whether or not to make donuts in-house or outsource.

The list of items continues to grow after getting feedback from future customers who are excited to have a homemade bakery outlet in Frazee. Currently, her most common requests are gluten-free options and sourdough bread. Macarons are actually a gluten-free product.

“I have time now to be practicing and I am,” she laughed.

Hopes are to have the business up and running before May, as graduation month provides a lot of business to Karey already. 

“I want to have more capacity so I can make more,” she said.

Smagacz has used social media, predominantly, Facebook to max out her cottage business and expects that to continue as she transfers to a commercial space. Social media has been critical in expanding her business to customers and events in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Other than that, she created her own following by being seen consistently from her booth downtown during Turkey Days in Frazee to events all over, most recently in Perham at the Christmas Plus Bazaar.

“I do a lot of shows and events, that was a big thing,” she said.

Karey is also collaborating with other specialty bakers like Timmie Hansen’s Lillie’s Lollipops out of Audubon by providing both retail space and rental time in the kitchen.

Prior to opening, Karey is looking to create more recognition for her current business and business-to-be, with a full schedule the rest of the year. November is highlighted by her annual Thanksgiving Treat Platters with participating businesses. Karey gives away holiday bundles by entering on her Facebook page.

December brings more treat platters, advent calendars and more. She is highlighting Frazee amidst a busy holiday schedule with a holiday cookie exchange at Mercantile 1898 downtown. More information on all her products and events can be found at Macarons & More by Karey LLC and Karey’s personal page on Facebook. Online ordering is available at macaronsbykarey.com.