Bayou Eats | Sweet Caroline’s Bakery Boutique

article by Vanelis Rivera
photography by Kelly Moore Clark

CAROLINE GREEN BARTON did not think she had an artistic bone in her body. She had been a devotee of science for most of her life, receiving a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Texas at Tyler, and working as a Lead Chemical Process Operator at Eastman in Longview, Texas. In 2022, she moved back to Calhoun, Louisiana with her husband because she missed her family and wanted to shift her career options. There, she began pursuing an MBA with a concentration in human resource management. For the first time, she wasn’t working eighty hours a week. She could have pursued employment, but instead, she took her mother’s advice and returned to one of her former passions—baking. A few cheesecakes later, she had a planner full of orders. Little did she know, her journey as a baker wouldn’t stop there.

“I love baking cheesecake,” says Caroline, reminiscing about the early bakes she whipped and whisked in her grandmother’s townhouse. It became her laboratory, of sorts. “I barricaded myself,” she says, spending hours in the heat of the kitchen trying to meet the demands of her customers between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. While deep in the trenches of batter and frosting, she couldn’t conceive of pursuing baking any further. And yet, when she made her last delivery of the season, a sense of fulfillment remained. “I never knew I had artistic talent like that,” she says. Between October to December, her piping skills had improved exponentially, so much so that it felt like second nature. “It was kind of shocking,” she recalls, adding, “But I’m also someone who, if I set my mind, at some point, I’m going to do it until I do it right.”

Even then, the extraordinary reception of Caroline’s sweets was insufficient in nudging her toward a drastic career shift. After all, she was still pursuing a degree, and her baking, though a source of gratification, was only a side hustle. All the same, she would soon find that life had other plans for her. On the way to a church-related women’s conference in Mississippi, her mother, intuiting her daughter’s newfound drive, asked her, “Is this something you want to take further?” As Caroline pondered the answer, she received a phone call. It was the previous owner of what would become Sweet Caroline’s Bakery Boutique. Mother and daughter were speechless. At first, the proposed arrangement was for Caroline to manage the already-established bakery, but later it would be revealed that the owners wanted to sell. It wasn’t an immediate yes for Caroline. She met with them several times and prayed “a lot.” Ultimately, she let the scales drop from her eyes and accepted that God was opening a door she could not ignore. After meeting with a CPA and reviewing numbers, she made the purchase and officially opened her doors in April 2023. 

“It took a while to kind of find my rhythm,” discloses Caroline, who had to shut down the establishment for several days in order to completely remodel. The walls went from Tiffany blue to a cheerful blush pink. For seating, elegant, black bistro chairs and tables, are delicately decorated with colorful vases and flowers. The check-out counter is styled with a minimalist, black-and-white twig wallpaper, and the area is further enhanced by a classic, white crystal chandelier. Despite the chic ambiance that Caroline has carefully curated, the focal point of the cozy space should be obvious—the bakery display counter. There, you truly appreciate the extent of her artistry, and if the curtain to the kitchen is open, you may even get the rare delight of seeing her at work surrounded by commercial ovens and mixers. “I’m here seven days a week,” she says. After all, even when a bakery is closed the baker may still be in.

The early stages of the business involved studying all the recipes included in the purchase. This allowed her to begin developing her own system, finding places where she could simplify production while maintaining the quality of her bakes. “We never freeze our cakes,” she emphasizes, explaining that one of her fears is to send out a cake that has freezer burn. Currently, the systems established ensure that everything on display and for pick-up is baked fresh. “Seeing that evolve has been a tremendous help,” she says. Tweaking the recipes with attention to flavors and baking methods was also a welcome endeavor. Thankfully, her family is a reliable source of quality assurance, without fail providing honest feedback during taste testing. She informs, “My parents, they’re sweet people. They never hesitate.”

Best known for her cakes, Caroline continously celebrates her hard-earned craft skills, particularly her buttercream skills. “My favorite is the painting technique,” she says, pointing out the amount of “little art tools” required to complete the whimsical, final result. While some bakers opt for the buffed finish of fondant, she favors the richness and versatility of buttercream. “Replacing the fondant details with buttercream to make it look realistic,” she explains. The bakery does have a “good fondant guy,” but she clarifies that his work is strictly for detailing. Another mastered buttercream technique often employed in her cakes is buttercream transferring. It requires drawing over an outlined print with buttercream, freezing it, and then transferring it to the top or edges of a cake. “It looks like a picture just printed off.”

Of all her delightful bakes, cakes allow Caroline to be part of some of the most important days of her customers’ lives, a fact she does not take for granted. “There are so many cakes,” she laughs, finding it impossible to list some of her favorites. She mentions wedding cakes as the most nerve-wracking orders, but only because the event is mounted with such great expectations. Despite the pressure, she manages to produce picture-perfect bride and groom cakes. Baby showers are another popular event, but one she has a close affinity to because six months ago she became the mother of a sweet baby girl. Also, she finds it special when baby shower customers return asking for a first or second birthday cake. “That’s the best part,” she says, “Being able to make customers’ visions come to life.” Some may call her a people pleaser, but she is a self-proclaimed people’s person. “If I can do anything to help make something special and make something better, I’m going to do it.”

From cupcakes to brownies, customers should expect bakery favorites with a unique Sweet Caroline’s twist. For instance, while she had been producing royal icing cookies, she recently began using buttercream for decoration. “They taste a little better too,” she says, mentioning that the bakery makes their buttercream in-house daily. On the cupcake aisle, Caroline favors the lemon curd, a cross between a cupcake and lemon bar, and the strawberry liqueur cupcake, balanced in sweetness and fruity flavor. Coffee shop-style muffins are growing in interest, and probably exponentially so come “Gilmore Girls Week,” a special limited-time menu welcoming fall. The jumbo brioche cinnamon rolls have swiftly become quick sellers, as well as her golden brown brioche bread loaves. A recent addition that has also gained a following is her thick, ooey gooey cookie cakes—a recipe she spent a few weeks perfecting. If you’re not ready for an entire pan, the bakery has slices available daily. “I wish more people knew about our cheesecakes,” says Caroline, who swears by her base recipe. She encourages customers to request any flavor they can imagine. She is up to the task! Her Thanksgiving cheesecake menu includes pecan praline, pumpkin, triple chocolate, butterscotch, and Biscoff cookie butter.

“We’re quickly outgrowing this size space,” reveals Caroline, whose plans include separate rooms where she can host baking workshops, special events, and parties. Of late, an interest in English-style tearooms has nudged her to curate a similar space whenever she expands the business. In the meantime, her focus is community outreach. She often searches for organizations where she can donate her bakes. Recently, she sent a batch of sweets to the Renewal Center of Northeast Louisiana. The experience was emotional for Caroline, as she considered the privilege of her work, and how many of us take parts of our life, even the ability to purchase a sweet treat, for granted. 

Sweet Caroline’s Bakery Boutique may be a small place (for now), but what it lacks in space it makes up for in artistic bakes and a heart for humanity. Don’t just stop by for a sugar fix. Immerse yourself into the space, add a cappuccino to your order, allow yourself to savor the treat of your choice, and as you do so, note the soft reminder mounted behind the counter, “Life is short. Make it sweet.”