A Big Birthday for Westminster Bakery Owner

Westminster small business owner Shannon Clarke's passion for baking started with the Smurfs and blueberry muffins.

“I would bake blueberry muffins every Saturday morning,” Clarke remembers with a laugh. “My parents would wake up to the sound of me pulling the stool to turn on the oven.”

Clarke, 34, is the owner of the Starry Night Bakery & Coffeehouse, which on Friday will kick off its ninth anniversary in business by launching a new line of upscale “quirky” cupcakes with unique flavors that will change with the seasons. One of the new flavors includes the “Vodoo” cupcake, which is an espresso-flavored cupcake filled with caramel and chocolate ganache topped with caramel butter cream and dusted with crushed chocolate covered espresso beans.

“We are so appreciative of the continued support from the local community over the years. This is our way of saying thank you,” Clarke said. “I am very fortunate to be able to do what I love each day.”

Starry Night Bakery & Coffeehouse offers custom and specialty cakes, a full line of dairy free and vegan options and unique blends of specialty coffees and teas.  Everything is baked fresh daily.

For Clarke, her business success is a dream come true.

However the Westminster resident, who grew up in the city, was not always on the track to baking success.

In fact her background is in graphic design.

“I was really unhappy with what I was doing,” Clarke explained. “I was sitting behind a desk designing web pages all day—I didn’t enjoy it.”

Then one day she began playing around in the kitchen when she realized that baking was her destiny. In her 20s she switched tracks and went to pastry school. The rest is confectionary history.

Her eatery, which is well known for its custom cakes and cupcakes, has since won Carroll County’s Best Desserts at least five to six times.

“I am blessed to do what I love everyday with an amazing crew,” Clarke said.

The bakery has a staff of seven, and is growing.

The eatery creates everything from seven tier wedding cakes covered in handmade fondant flowers to custom cakes with themes from Yoda to monster trucks.

“We just did an order for 116 dozen cupcakes for the Carroll Hospital Center. That was probably the most recent really big order,” Clarke said. “That’s what makes it so much fun. It's all over the board. It's not just one style or one theme. It’s a little bit of everything.”

As for her employees, they seem to be happy with the way the store is run.

“It’s the least stifling environment I have worked in,” said full-time employee Lindsay Wailes. “I get to be myself…It’s nice.”

The customers seem to be equally enthused.  

“Honestly I like their chai lattes—I go to different places and I think theirs is the best,” said a regular customer who declined to be named. "I come in to read and to work—I just like the atmosphere. I usually come three times a week…It’s a routine.”

In the meantime, Clarke said that the hardest part of running a business is finding time for herself; she currently works six days a week, 10-12 hours a day.

But she says she can’t complain—she is doing what she loves, and it’s paying off.

As for her hope for the future, she says, “For everything to stay sweet and upright, and to just to be able to keep doing what we’re doing.”

Starry Night Bakery & Coffeehouse, 330 One Forty Village Rd. Mon., 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; Tues.-Fri., 8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Sat., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 410-871-9131. starrynightbakery.com.