2020 was designated the year of the nurse and midwife by the World Health Organization back in January. This foreshadowing couldn’t have been more appropriate in the months to follow, as nurses have been undoubtedly some of the busiest and most vital people this year.
Amid all of the craziness, local nurse Heidi Rademaker was burning the candle at both ends to start her side business and passion project. The resulting home bakery, Sprinkled, serves up colorful and delicious baked goods with every detail made from scratch.
“Everything is made from scratch, including the fondant that I make to decorate with for toppers on my cakes or cupcakes. If I could consider it the signature thing that I do, that would be it; cupcakes with handmade fondant decorations. That, to me, is so much fun. Right now I’m focusing on a lot of custom cakes, cupcakes, and cookies, decorated Rice Krispy treats. I also do dog treats and dog cakes as well.”
Heidi is a Traverse City-based nurse, mom, and wife who, like many parents, has had to wear many hats this year. Despite her busy schedule she was excited to start Sprinkled out of a love for baking.
“I’ve always enjoyed baking since I was a little kid growing up. I’d be the one who jumped to make the cookies or the cakes, but I really got into the decorating aspect of it this past January,” she said.
Early inspiration to turn her passion into a business began with friends and family. Back in January when she was starting to hone her decorating skills she began posting some of the resulting baked items on her Facebook. The likes, comments, shares, and heart eyes emojis were consistently rolling in, and some of her friends and family members started reaching out to Heidi to create a fabulous birthday cake or cupcakes for their own special occasions.
“It stared within my own inner circle. With all the support they provided, they’re really what led me to take the leap to start a business. It was something I was interested in, but I was iffy about it because I am a mom of 2 and a full-time nurse. So all the support helped a lot, especially from my husband, he was the one who completely pushed me and said, ‘you can do this. I’m here to support you, I’ll help you every step of the way,’ and here we are.”
The holiday season has proved to only pile more craziness onto the year. The madness has been a blessing for Sprinkled, however. Heidi took on the task of making the popular and trendy hot cocoa bombs. Thin, hollow globes of chocolate filled with hot cocoa powder and marshmallows dissolve when they come in contact with heated milk or water. Mesmerizing videos of the bombs breaking open under hot liquid have been circulating social media feeds everywhere. Their popularity has served Sprinkled well in its first holiday season.
“Cocoa bombs have been big right now with the holiday season. They’re really cool, I actually just closed my preorder for them. It only took two days and I was already at capacity for what I could sell! So as of right now, I’m taking custom orders for January.”
She’s working on a website where she’ll have baked goods available without a custom order, but for now, she can be best contacted through . She offers delivery for a small fee or will bring orders to a local meet up location.
“In the future, something that I’d like to do is have a storefront. Whether that’d five years or ten years down the road. I would love the opportunity.”
If there were ever a year to shy away from risk-taking, this is the year. But Heidi has persevered with her passion for baking and the hard work is paying off. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been worth it.
“Between juggling my kids, and having a job, maintaining my home, I’ve just been trying to find a rhythm of how to juggle it all. I haven’t really had any hobbies outside of work, so finding something that I can do on the side that makes me feel happy has been awesome. And I know I wanna keep doing it because it’s given me so much joy.”
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