Mason resident of 24 years and home baker Stephanie Amlung brings infectious joy to everything she does. Anyone who has received a beautifully made pastry from Stephanie or watched her CET series The Baking Journal has felt it. It turns out that’s always been a big part of her personality.
“I took a Myers-Briggs test years ago and the one thing I always remember it said about my personality was that I am the ultimate party girl,” shares Stephanie with a smile. “You never want to have a party without inviting someone like me. My philosophy for baking and life is just relax and have fun.”
That’s even more true now that she has dedicated her fun-loving personality and eye for aesthetics to her home bakery business A Charmingly Sweet Life. The initial spark began many years ago when she discovered an admiration for Martha Stewart and vowed to master her recipes.
“I would try to cook or bake something that she had done, with epic failure. I started to wonder, is she purposefully leaving something out so none of us can aspire to her greatness?” Stephanie laughs. “I just kept practicing and practicing because I wanted to be able to do it. That was where my baking journey began. It unleashed a passion that I never realized was there.”
Once she realized she could bake for hours without tiring of it and have something delicious to show for it she was hooked. The marriage between Stephanie’s creative side and her precise, scientific side was the perfect match. While maintaining her day job as a clinical researcher, she pursued more baking training through the Escoffier Culinary School.
After an intensive 14-month online program she earned a baking and pastry arts certificate. She also devoted time and patience toward honing her decorating skills and developing her flavors, finding inspiration in everything from wallpaper and flowers to jams and Instagram posts. In 2018 she decided she needed to do more with her training and love of baking, and A Charmingly Sweet Life was born.
“When I can present something delicious and beautiful to someone it feels like a nurturing thing to do, but when I also see how much they enjoy it, I can’t get that feeling from anything else. That joyful feeling keeps me going,” shares Stephanie.
She had early success with decorated cakes, but her day job ramped up and baking had to take a backseat. During this time, she was volunteering for local public television stations and bringing in treats to share. She also found ways to mention how great it would be to have a local baking show to station staff. In 2020, CET offered to do a screen test in her delightfully elegant home bakery. The screen tests became The Baking Journal and they began filming feature recipes and shorter tips and tricks that appear on CET and YouTube.
“It’s a lot of fun and that’s what I want to come across. If you’re going to spend 10 minutes with me I want you to feel that’s time well spent,” Stephanie says. “Whether you’re planning on making the recipe or not, I hope you had fun and felt like you were sitting in the kitchen with me.”
While a full crew does come to Stephanie’s home to film for a week at a time, it’s truly a one-woman show.
“What I learned is that even though Martha or Ina Garten make it look easy, it is so much work! I don’t have staff, so I grocery shop, test and perfect my recipes and prep all of the ingredients and various stages of the recipes,” she explains.
Stephanie has a PhD in nursing and while her more than 20-year career as a clinical researcher has served her well, she has an eye on retiring at the end of this year. Lucky for us, that means A Charmingly Sweet Life is back in the swing of things. Stephanie is thrilled to continue creating lovingly made-to-order confections.
“I want everything that comes out of A Charmingly Sweet Life to be special and I want my customers to know that I am making this just for them,” says Stephanie.
A Charmingly Sweet Life offers a limited menu, focusing on cakes, cupcakes, cookies, macarons and breads. The time of year, customers' interests and cottage industry laws also affect menu offerings. Lately, Stephanie’s been enjoying making decorative pies and focaccia breads.
“Almost anything can be decorated and I hope that’s what people will remember me for. I always like to add a decorative spin to everything I do,” she shares.
While Stephanie hopes you’ll contact her when you want to be the star of your next party, it’s clear she’s also worked hard to create a life where she’s the star of her baking dreams.
“Never in a million years did I think I would have an opportunity like this. Between A Charmingly Sweet Life and The Baking Journal, I would’ve never said that this was my life’s plan. It’s a testament to persistence, practice, patience and being open to those opportunities when they present themselves,” enthuses Stephanie.
