BUSINESS FEATURE Taste of Gnome Kingwood bakery boasts quirky sweet treats W hen Mary Beth Baker rst proposed the name “Gnome Sweet Gnome” was not always smooth. “When you do something like
BY WESLEY GARDNER
that, nobody teaches you, so it’s a huge on-the-job learning curve,” Baker said. “There’s a lot that we’re learning all the time—modifying our cookies, [learning] what [products] we can bring in here, what we want to add to the store. … Every day I learn something dierent.” According to Baker, Taste of Gnome is continually creating and experimenting with new oerings. She noted the king cake—a Louisiana staple resembling a crown adorned with Mardi Gras colors—has become a customer favorite. Additionally, she noted Taste of Gnome oers Vertere Coee, which is produced in Porter and sold locally in the Lake Houston area. “I’m really excited about that, espe- cially with it being local here,” Baker said. “When I say fresh, it’s fresh.” In addition to a bevy of staples, such as cupcakes and cookies, Baker noted the bakery can produce made-to-order items when asked in advance. Taste of Gnome can also cater for large events, such as weddings and birthday parties. Looking back at the early run of Taste of Gnome, Baker said she most enjoys interacting with happy customers. Looking to the future, she said she is excited to grow. “We’re still learning,” she said. “We’re still coming up with ideas and trying to gure out what works and what doesn’t work. We’re trying to keep our customers happy with everything we do.”
for her edgling gift shop and home decor business in Kingwood in 2012, she did not get the response she was hoping she would receive. “Originally, I had a lot of pushback on it, but it’s actually been a really great thing,” Baker said. “I wanted to have something that people would see that would be fun and they would recognize, and gnomes are fun.” Baker’s intuition proved to be correct. The store is still thriving a decade later and has done so well, in fact, that Baker leased space in an adjacent building to open a second business, Taste of Gnome, in Novem- ber 2020. Taste of Gnome oers an array of baked goods, including cookies, cupcakes, king cakes, cake bombs and other sweet treats with prices ranging from $3.95 per cookie to $74.95 for a large rectangle cookie cake. According to Baker, she had considered opening Taste of Gnome for a while before moving forward with the bakery. “It had always piqued my interest because I felt like there was a big need in Kingwood,” she said. “We didn’t really have a bakery that was a little more quirky and fun.” Baker said once the space became available in November 2020, she decided the time was right to move forward with the bakery. She noted the transition from owning a retail store to owning a bakery, however,
Mary Beth Baker owns both Gnome Sweet Gnome and Taste of Gnome in Kingwood.
WESLEY GARDNERCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Taste of Gnome’s king cake has become a customer favorite, Baker said. COURTESY TASTE OF GNOME
The business also boasts homemade treats for pups of all sizes.
COURTESY TASTE OF GNOME
ANATOMY OF A COOKIE The red velvet cookie is one of Taste of Gnome’s most popular oerings, but customers can request their own unique treat if they have something else in mind.
Red velvet cookie dough Housemade cream cheese White chocolate drizzle
COURTESY TASTE OF GNOME
Taste of Gnome 20 N. Main St., Kingwood 281-883-4814 www.tasteofgnome.com Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., closed Sun.
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LAKE HOUSTON HUMBLE KINGWOOD EDITION • MARCH 2022
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