The Art of Cupcakes Gives Birth to Residential Bakery

If cupcake baking is an art form, then that would certainly explain the story of Melissa Guillemette.

While the she loved painting for as far back as she could remember, last year she took that love and transferred into the beginnings of what would become Sweetpea's Bakery: a residentially based cupcake enterprise on Southwick Circle.

Before she became Sweetpea's owner/baker/ “doer of everything”, Guillemette was looking for a way to expand her decorative impulses which ranged from painting to sculpting and beyond. Ultimately, she came to the conclusion in early 2011 that food would become her next canvass.

“It’s just more fun to eat your art at the end of the day than sit on a wall somewhere.” she said. “Everybody can relate to food, everybody eats and everybody loves sweets.”

Following this realization, Guillemette began a journey through Westford’s zoning process before officially opening on September 19, 2011.

Since then, she says she’s seen her business grow, both in terms of customers and in terms of her offerings, which now include a gluten free line of cupcakes.

Guillemette believes that growth may necessitate moving to a storefront sometime in the future, although she can delay that move for now due to the fact that most of her orders come from larger items such as cakes, and the fact that her parents have been supportive with their home’s partial transformation into a cupcake workshop.

“At first (my parents) were a little hesitant giving up part of their house and having people coming in all the time and being constantly surrounded by delicious treats,” she said. “But they’ve become pretty comfortable with the idea.”

Regardless of whether she stays on Southwick Circle or heads to a new part of town, she joins a variety of local cupcake creators such as and , a trend that she thinks will only lead to more micro-bakeries in the area.

“The market isn’t saturated yet!” exclaimed Guillemette. “We’ve been deprived of a real bakery for so long in Westford and Littleton and Groton that I think there’s been an untapped need for this for a long time.”

More information on Sweetpea's is available by phone at 978-489-9001, or on the company’s website.