Today we’d like to introduce you to Liz Hollingsworth.
Hi Liz, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
My name is Liz, and I have been baking since I was a child! I grew up putting the glaze on poppy seed cakes, licking cake batter off of Kitchen Aid beaters, and stealing cookie dough out of the bowl. I once even had a cookie decorating birthday party!
When I was in seventh grade, I took a poll of my teachers’ favorite desserts and then showed up with four individual desserts a few days later. One of those desserts was a lemon meringue pie, and I only now realize what a feat that was at twelve years old. (I’m still undecided as to whether I should be embarrassed or proud of this story).
In college, I realized that baking was a stress relief, a coping mechanism. I once made one hundred cupcakes because I wanted to try different flavors, and I ended up giving them away in drive-through lanes at fast-food restaurants. At that time I was just using box cake, but it gave me a lot of joy to create things for people. One St. Patrick’s Day, I found a recipe for Irish Cupcakes and made chocolate cupcakes baked with Guinness, filled them with Jameson Irish Whiskey ganache, and frosted them with Baileys Irish Cream Buttercream. I took it to a local Irish pub in my college town and gave them away to the bartenders, owner, and anyone who walked by my table. It is now my signature cupcake and I have kept the tradition of taking them with me on St. Patrick’s Day to be enjoyed alongside a pint of Guinness.
When I graduated, I kept baking and became addicted to shows like “Cupcake Wars” and started dabbling in nontraditional flavor combinations. People started asking me to bake for events– I baked for a wedding, a dog and cat adoption event, and a Traumatic Brain Injury Program launch, to name a few. (I made so many cake pops in the shape of a brain that my hands hurt for days trying to get those damn things out of the molds!)
Six years ago, an acquaintance (now my wife!) asked me to make a champagne cake for her best friend’s bridal shower. I misinterpreted her request and thought she wanted a champagne-flavored cake (yes!), but it turns out she was asking for a cake that looked like a champagne bottle (no!). Not wanting to disappoint her, I made my own fondant and painted it, and I was so very proud. Sadly, that cake met its end only a few hours later. I had never made a sculpted cake before, and I didn’t realize that it needed support for all of its layers and heavy fondant.
My hopes and dreams of impressing this girl collapsed, as did the cake itself. I pulled an all-nighter and recreated the cake as best as I could, this time with dowels and cake boards! I delivered this cake with some champagne-flavored cupcakes, and she was none the wiser. Her friends teasingly called me “Cake Boss” for a while, and that’s how my love story got its start.
Despite this epic fail, I continued to bake for friends and family and consistently tried new recipes. I considered it my passion project and filed it away as an expensive hobby.
I had toyed with the idea of starting my own business since I was in high school, but it always seemed unattainable. Although the dream has evolved, it has always involved baking. With the student loans and need for financial security, however, I kept baking as a hobby and finished my Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration in 2015.
It wasn’t until I was at a friend’s house last year that I took the official leap to start a business. I don’t remember how the conversation went exactly, but my friend shrugged, making a comment along the lines of, “well, why not?” I realized that it was fear of failure, fear of flops, and fear of commitment that had kept me from pursuing anything more. I don’t know what it was about this interaction in particular, but something clicked.
I went home and started brainstorming business names. I finally settled on Sift and Sip, paying homage to one of my first traditions of baking with beer while dreaming of a future wine bar and bakery.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Oh gosh, there isn’t a day that goes by that there isn’t a new challenge or obstacle to face. Baking is a science and is the most temperamental of projects. I have started to specialize in decorated cookies, and royal icing is affected by the weather, temperature, level of moisture in the air, etc. It’s been a wild ride figuring that out!
And Imposter Syndrome? Oh boy. There are so many incredible artists out there and some days it feels like I’m just a blip on the radar. It takes conscious effort to put that away and stop agonizing over my work. I am very detail-oriented (both as a baker and with my work in compliance), and sometimes that translates into obsessing over minute things.
Since I work full-time in a corporate job, I easily clock 80+ hours/week. Owning a business is more than a full-time job, but it’s not currently the job that pays my bills, so I am in the difficult (and simultaneously awesome) position to juggle the roles of employee, business owner, wife, daughter, and friend. It’s tough; I won’t sugarcoat that! I am learning to say no to people when my schedule is full and setting boundaries for my time. It’s really hard, but I am actively working on it.
My current challenge is what to do next! I am outgrowing my cottage bakery, but I don’t know what the next step is between this and my big dream of owning a wine bar bakery and event space. It’s exciting, but oh-so-intimidating!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Sift and Sip?
Sift and Sip is a cottage bakery in San Antonio, which means that I bake out of my home and follow the cottage laws set by the state of Texas.
I specialize in decorated sugar cookies and cupcakes, although I also bake brownies, cookie cakes, drop cookies, and everything in-between. I take custom orders (mostly decorated cookies) year around. Custom orders are a celebration of small businesses, people, milestones, events– I am constantly humbled to have the opportunity to create cookies for my clients’ most important moments.
I also offer pre-sales around the holidays and have done pop-ups at a local coffee shop and brewery. It’s a fun way to offer new things to potential clients and meet people in my community. For Halloween this year, I offered things like a DIY Spooky Pizza Kit for kids and a Basic Witch Box with themed treats. In June, a local brewery hosted a Pride event and I sold Pride Boxes in a 90s throwback theme and baked chocolate cake made with their beer. I love the collaboration in this community!
I also teach cookie decorating classes! I do private classes and public classes about once a month. I provide all of the supplies, cookies, icing, and give step-by-step instructions on how to decorate the set of cookies. I love teaching and my goal is to provide a creative outlet for anyone who needs it.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Honestly, my luck stems from having an amazing wife and friends that support this dream and encourage its growth. I owe a lot to the other small business in my city, too. They are so supportive and have really helped me to expand my reach.
In fact, a local coffee shop, Curator Coffee, kick-started my cookie decorating classes by hosting my first few! The classes have been a great success and are my favorite part of the business.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: siftandsip.square.site
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siftandsip
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/siftandsip/
Image Credits
Stacy Sullivan
