Check Out Laurel Kosel’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laurel Kosel. 

Hi Laurel, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My passion for art began at a young age. I distinctly remember deciding I wanted to go to art school and have a creative career when I was in 8th grade. I attended the University of Michigan School of Art & Design, where I focused on Graphic Design. It was during my time there that I took a Wilton cake decorating class at Joann Fabrics one summer with my mom, and after that, I was hooked. I took any opportunity to create elaborate cakes and confections for family and even tied my passion for baking into my senior thesis project at U of M. After college, I apprenticed at a local cake shop owned by a fellow alum. That was where that I learned a lot about what it means to run a baking business. 

After several years working as a designer for tech startups, I decided to take my passion to the forefront and began selling custom-decorated sugar cookies in June 2021. My business has steadily been growing ever since! 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Pricing has always been one of the most difficult things to nail down. As with many industries currently, the rise in the cost of ingredients (butter, sugar, eggs, etc.) has created even more of a challenge. I’ve had to increase my prices significantly to compensate for it, and it can be tough to stay on top of as things change so rapidly. There also currently seems to be a powdered sugar shortage in my area, which is the main ingredient in my icing recipe. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in custom-decorated sugar cookies. I also love to offer holiday pre-orders, typically for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Back to School. My cookies are a soft baked vanilla-almond sugar cookie with vanilla-almond royal icing. I strongly believe a cookie should taste as good as it looks which often isn’t the case with decorated cookies (in my experience). I finally have perfected my recipe to the point that customers always comment on the taste, and the hint of almond sets them apart from your typical sugar cookie. 

When designing a cookie set, I pull from my Graphic Design background to create unique, cohesive designs. I am lucky to have customers who come to me with the best themes that allow me to be creative and challenge myself to come up with something elegant and unexpected. 

In the future, I plan to offer cookie decorating kits, cookie decorating classes, and cookie cutters. I’ll also be adding some fun apparel for bakers to my Etsy shop soon at: www.etsy.com/shop/LaurelTwistCo 

Pricing:

• Custom cookies start at $60 per dozen

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.laureltwist.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laureltwistco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laureltwistco