The Inside Scoop: Master Class with Rosie Alyea (aka Sweetapolita!)

Inspired by her LOVE for baking her first venture in business was , a popular boutique brand of bath and body products inspired by all things cake. Then she followed her passion for the sweeter things in life and went to culinary school. In 2010 Rosie started a blog as a way to share her love of baking with the world. Her cookbook followed just five years later in 2015!

As if writing and baking weren't enough to keep her busy, Rosie also experimented with making inventive, colorful, and fun sprinkle mixes from scratch. At the time, there were no sprinkles on the market that were an eye-catching mix of textures, colors, shapes and sizes, so Rosie created her own. She would search the internet for sprinkles that inspired her and mix them together to make a custom blend for her cakes.

Every time she shared these early-day sprinkle medleys, she got requests from fans and readers that wanted the fancy mixes for themselves. So, her sprinkle business was born! DŌ is definitely a customer, our Unicorn Cookie Dough simply wouldn't be complete without Rosie's whimsical sprinkle mix.

I always find it fascinating to hear other entrepreneurs’ stories about starting a new business. The lives we all live before we start something of our own is so interesting, as it clearly informs where we are today.

Rosie did what she does best – baked and decorated a cake – at our Master Class!

We made her Rainbow & Sprinkles Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Rosie's buttercream is very different from the American Buttercream I typically use. Swiss Meringue requires a very specific technique and is less sweet than American Buttercream. I loved the balance and smoothness of her recipe!

Each person got to decorate their own mini-cake with Rosie's chic sprinkles and took home some cookie dough, too. There was wine to sip while we decorated and chatted about all things sprinkles and sweetness.

Sweetapolita’s book is a MUST-HAVE (seriously, go buy it!), and you absolutely must follow her sprinkle adventure on Instagram…stat.

Rosie’s class benefited Icing Smiles, a cake-giving charity that provides celebratory treats to sick children. Cheers to that!

Who is ready for February!?