Sugar Babe Bakery grand opening in Colfax, WA

Located on Main Street next to many shops lined down the street, Sugar Babe Bakery sits within a shopping and retail store, Colfax Mercantile. The ceiling filled with hanging umbrellas and numerous knickknacks line the windows, the shop makes an impression on anyone who walks in.  

Sugar Babe Bakery opened its doors to the community Friday, April 16 after holding a grand opening weekend. People were able to come in, meet the owner and enjoy all-vegan treats as well as their allergy-friendly menu. Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday—Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, the bakery invites people of the Palouse to come and enjoy the shop.  

“I’ve kind of been baking my whole life but I fell in love with it a little more, a couple years ago,” Melanie Voorhees, owner of Sugar Babe Bakery said. “I realized it was more than just making cookies and making cakes out of box mixes. And so, I just started home baking for a while and just baking for friends.”  

Last summer, Voorhees got the idea of making a business after she started baking for donations for her non-profit, Saving for a Storm. As founder and president, she started the non-profit for funding emergency life-saving surgeries for animals.  

“One of our dogs that we have now actually started out that way, her previous owner couldn’t afford (surgery) and were like, you either have to pay like $1,000 or we have to put her down right now,” Voorhees said. “So, I just don’t think any owner should ever have to go through that, so that’s why I started that.”   

Voorhees bought a house in Colfax last year and after learning the Colfax atmosphere, she was ready to develop her business. She noticed that the market hasn’t developed enough for people who are vegan and have allergies, so she decided to cater to that demographic.  

“I’m gluten-free myself I had to go gluten-free over the summer, so I try and keep at least one or two options available right now,” Voorhees said. “I avoid nuts as much as possible, and I’m only working with coconut and almond. I tried to limit the amount of soy since most of the stuff at least some of the stuff I don’t have so in it because I know people have sensitivities to that.”  

In the future, Voorhees wants to make sugar-free items but does not at the moment.  

“I know it’s not super convenient, especially people who don’t have transportation, things like that, so I know that’s an issue,” Voorhees said. “But I would love for people to come if they do have allergies, it’s a really hard market in this area, there’s barely anything vegan, dairy-free or gluten-free, so that’s kind of wanted why I wanted to tap into that market.”  

Emily Pearce can be reached at arg-life@uidaho.edu or on Twitter @Emily_A_Pearce