We had the good fortune of connecting with Marie Martinez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Hands on Sweets was created with the mission and focus of creating the best custom cakes and desserts in Tampa Bay while providing and entirely custom experience. Wedding cakes that are baked from scratch, in small batch, and with the highest quality ingredients available. As a husband-and-wife team we wanted to work together and achieve our goals, as a family and business partners. Our focus is on weddings and events where we use our culinary/ baking and pastry degree by bringing to the market a fresh take on small batch recipes with high quality ingredients and artistic expressions. We wanted clients to have the experience of choosing cake flavors, fillings and a design that was created and designed just for them. We also wanted to have the flexibility of choosing our free time as we are huge travel fanatics and any chance we get, we explore places, food and culture.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

They say baking is a science, for us it’s art. We chose this career path as it is one that combines the love of food and the love of art. Ultimately, Chef Carlos and I are creatives, and we like to experience life with flavors and artistic expressions that are equally visually appealing as well as tasty. Our most popular signature designs are composed of hand painted art, handmade sugar flowers and all the cakes have a clean and elegant aesthetic. We are most proud of the recipes we have created along these 10 years which sets us apart from the standard bakeries. Recipes that are time consuming, but the result is heaven! We are also proud of the designs we create as they truly reflect who we are as artists.

We got to where we are today by being consistent and intentional. It takes a lot of one person to follow their dreams and break the standards, but we were willing to push through as a couple and as business partners. Was it easy?  Not at all!  Anything in life that we value the most is never easy, you just motivate yourself to wake up and get moving towards your goals.

Challenges are addressed as they come, and we adjust.  Just as in life we struggle, learn, and push through.

We would love for people to know that artists are here to bring a new concept to life. In the cake world, clients often request for us to mimic other cake artists and we do all we can to think out of the box. While inspiration is around us, we need to create edible art that is specific to one’s event in life.  Hands on Sweets to us, is a lifestyle. We create art for what may very well be the most special day of your life.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh, this is a tough one since Tampa Bay is so amazing! I would start with brunch at the Oxford Exchange followed by a long walk at the Riverwalk. Maybe visit the Florida Aquarium, Tampa Museum of Art or a nice show at the Straz Center all right on the river. Dinner at Bern’s Steakhouse as it is a staple in Tampa. Next day we would enjoy Hyde Park Village and have lunch at any of their incredible restaurants with some light shopping. I would then drive to St Petersburg for my absolute favorite stroll over at the St Pete Pier and downtown which has so many amazing dining and entertainment options. The sunset cruises are incredible as well. While we are not party people Ybor City offers the wildest nightlife and is home to the Columbia Restaurant another staple in Tampa. We would encourage people to visit during Gasparilla Pirate Festival held at the beginning of the year, for a once in a lifetime experience with the boat parade and all the festivities that happen for the month.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
YESSS! My parents and Carlos’s parents have been invaluable in our success story, but the Shoutout goes for my mom! She was the one that motivated and challenged me to pursue and perfect baking as well as explore the artist side of me. I was only 15 when my mom, then 42, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Now at 61, and at an advanced stage of her condition, she is still my number 1 admirer, and motivation.  Shoutout to Mrs. Marie Oben Martinez, the best mom, 1st grade teacher, and fan!

Website: www.handsonsweets.com

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Twitter: handsonsweets

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Youtube: Hands on Sweets

Image Credits
All the images were taken by Kimberly Romano Photography Instagram; kimberlysromano

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