Bonomini’s Spooky Halloween cakes in their storefront window.
Two Saturdays ago a friend and I were on our way to a morning tour in Camp Washington, when we just HAD to make a sweet detour at one of the best bakeries in Cincinnati – Northside’s Bonomini. I have never had anything there that wasn’t OMFG good, but the secret is you have to get there early, because their cult following will buy them out of all the good stuff! Now Bonomini is one of the last of the great family bakeries left in the city. And Virginia B., the owner, is amazing. They really they know how to dress up a window for the holidays to really get you in the spirit. They had it all spooked up for Halloween and had three awesome monster cakes on display. I stood in front of the window, smiling like a kid, ogling the spooky creations, and taking pictures.
Creativity is the life blood of a food business. And for bakeries, those who add a cheeky, seasonal sense of humor, with their special products, AND socialize them, are the ones who are going to win. You don’t have to have an MBA in marketing to understand that.
So, it got me thinking, how are the other Cincinnati bakeries ‘bringing it’ with their spooky creations for Halloween? I turned to social media to see what was cooking, or rather, baking. Some of said bakeries still don’t get it about the power of social media and food photography in getting business. Some, are maestros at utilizing their imagery on social media. To those that are the maestros, here is my tribute to their creations. To those bakeries that aren’t maestros, some sound advice : you really need to step up your game – its flipping 2017 – try some easy social marketing or find someone to help!!!
Out in Amelia, Marcella’s Doughnuts and Bakery have two cool creations – a vampire doughnut, with usable plastic vampire teeth, and a cute Charley Brown-esque jack-o-lantern doughnut. For a 60 plus year old bakery that ties into the uber-popular Holtman Donut legacy, they are doing a great job on social media pulling in people from the city. Kudos to Marcella’s!
Wyoming pastry shop is on its fifth owner, but they’ve been serving the Wyoming community since 1934. Current owners, Phillip and Kimberly Reschke, have some wonderful products and a fantastic website and facebook page. Phillip learned pastry from his German baker father, while Kimberly has decorated cakes for over 30 years all over the U.S. including Las Vegas. Her talent shows in their adorable Halloween cookies below.
Bonbonerie in O’Bryonville always brings it with their seasonal confections. Their signature Halloween offering this year is called the Bump in the Night cake – a rich chocolate cake coupled with vanilla marshmallow filling, and topped with a monster vanilla bean cream puff, all covered in a chocolate marquis glaze. Now that sounds amazing.
Busken’s Bakery always brings it too. I’m scourged with living a couple of miles away from their commissary bakery, and can smell everything baking on my way home from work. They do a great job with their cookie and cupcake decorating, but my favorite on their website were these furry creature cupcakes.
I’m sure there are lots of great Halloween confections out there at some of our other local bakeries, but in this busy world of ours, if they don’t have them on their websites or in social media, how would we know?!