After working for General Motors for 25 years, Marsha Hogerheide wasn't quite ready for retirement. Instead, she enrolled in the baking and pastry program at the Art Institute in Novi and, in her words, "fell in love."
Today, Hogerheide owns the Buttercream Bakeshop in Wixom, where she says the bumpy cupcake is an all-time hit – but serious chocoholics might want to sample the turtle brownies.
Here, Rogerheide answers Metro Parent's questions – and passes along a favorite recipe for pecan pie cookies.
What three ingredients do you always keep stocked in your home pantry?
Real butter, eggs, flour: If you have these three items, you can make anything.
Your favorite meal to make or serve?
Breakfast! Sunday mornings I love to make it for my family and love to eat it. Eggs, potatoes, fruit and morning muffins. A good breakfast will last you all day.
We all have a favorite indulgence; for a foodie like you it must be something spectacular?
Believe it or not, nothing fancy. I love great bread – a nice crisp ciabatta is my favorite and great with any meal. Some day I will get it right and start producing it at the bakery. It is not as easy as folks think, but I am working on it.
What's one of your worst cooking mistakes?
One my husband will never let me forget: fried tuna noodle casserole! Mind you, it was over 20 years ago and I thought I knew what I was doing, but I can say it was the worst dish I ever served. I didn't cook the noodles; I just fried them and put the in the casserole. I should have just called it a loss – pitched it and taken him out to dinner.
There are so many great locally grown food products. What is your favorite?
I try to buy from local vendors/producers year round, I think Michigan summers bring out the best for fruits and vegetables (strawberries are the best).
What do you suggest for first-timers to the bakeshop? What menu item should they make sure to try?
We have many different cupcake flavors. Hands-down, the favorite is the "Bumpie," a dark chocolate fudge cake topped with butter cream and dipped in chocolate ganache.