Made on Cape Cod: Cape Cod Lollicakes

Lollicakes are defined by Kerry Mahar as a whimsical and delectable handcrafted cake treat, made from fine ingredients, placed on a stick.

Mahar, a resident of West Barnstable, started Cape Cod Lollicakes as a business in 2007. But as a consummate entertainer and coordinator of dinner parties, she had been making unique and creative foods and party favors for years.

“I am always looking for something new, and when I discovered lollicakes on the internet, I began to make them for my daughters’ school events.” And when parents began asking to buy them, Mahar “saw an opportunity and a niche that wasn’t being met.”

Mahar has spent years perfecting her recipes with “practice, practice, practice…and patience” The Lollicakes come in chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, coconut, carrot and lemon. She also offers seasonal flavors--pumpkin spice, spice and eggnog.

Customers order lollicakes for occasions, such as weddings, showers, birthdays, dinner parties and hostess gifts.

In order to create her perfect lollicake, Mahar makes a cake from scratch, and when it is cool, they are shaped. “It is hard to get them perfectly round,” Mahar expressed, but she “rolls and forms until they are perfect.”

Once they are formed, they are dipped in a chocolate that forms a shell around the cake.

Mahar also decorates the lollicake only using chocolate, which “is not as easy as it looks.” It takes a lot of time, because she likes them to look a certain way.

From the time the cake takes its shape to the finished product, it takes Mahar about an hour to create a batch of fifty.

Mahar has found much support from the Cape community of small business owners - “people that are in the same situation” - as well as her family.

After working out of her home kitchen for years, Mahar has opened her own storefront and bakery on Falmouth Road in Marstons Mills. She says after four weeks, she is starting to get the hang of it--even if she has had a couple of bad dreams about showing up late to angry customers.

But she knows she will always be learning, and that Cape Cod Lollicakes will always be a work in progress.

“I would love to eventually be able to hire people who will be working behind counter.” She would also like to expand her product offerings at the store to include scones and different kinds of pastries, along with coffee, tea, cider, hot chocolate.

But her main concern has always been and will remain that the quality and taste of the lollicakes remain consistent.

Cape Cod Lollicakes is located at 3821 Falmouth Road in Marstons Mills, and can be found online at www.capecodlollicakes.com.