Livin’ the sweet life: Former Dexter couple builds cupcake business

DEXTER, Mo. — ”I had my eye on him in fifth grade,” laughs Tina Stanfield.

“But it was seventh grade before I realized it,” Rick Stanfield jokingly adds.

The couple has been together ever since those youthful years, marrying shortly after high school, and living in Steele, Missouri, while Rick attended Arkansas State University and supported the family by working at Piggly Wiggly. The couple have one son, Ricky, and two grandchildren. Happiness in their marriage and in each other is evident as they share the story that has brought them home to Dexter for a few days.

“There have definitely been challenges along the way,” Rick Stanfield explains, “but those rough spots drew us together. Unfortunately,” he adds, “for many couples, problems drive a wedge between them that permanently damages their relationship. Tina and I are blessed that we were able to face the adversity together -- no blaming, no shaming -- we forged a plan together, with God’s help, and we worked together to see it through.”

The Stanfields were in Southeast Missouri recently promoting his book, “I Can and I Will,” which chronicles their story of success, loss and finding a new purpose. The couple, originally from Steele, has resided in the Santa Rosa Beach area of Florida for the past 14 years, after moving from Dexter in 2004.

“I wrote the book to let people see that hard work and perseverance can lift you out of any situation,” Rick says. “As we fought back, no job was beneath us, and we tackled each one together. We did not recover overnight, but slowly, little-by-little we began to work toward our new dream.”

That dream was gourmet cupcakes. Sweet Henrietta’s, named for their beloved Border Collie, began to blossom at a time when gourmet cupcakes were just beginning to enter the baked goods scene.

“We made our cupcakes and frosting from scratch, using old family recipes that Tina tweaked and re-tweaked,” Rick explained. “We didn’t cut corners on ingredients nor effort. We felt that God had given us this vision, this second chance, and we had to do the very best that we could do.”

“When we started,” Tina noted, “we continued to work other jobs. We decided to sell our cupcakes from a food truck at local farmers’ markets. We found an old ice cream truck on Craig’s List, but it was in Memphis.”

She explains that they drove to Tennessee to pick it up, and broke down in Georgia on the way home.

“We can laugh now, but it wasn’t very funny sitting in a parking lot for 12 hours waiting for that truck to get fixed,” she recalls.

“On our first Saturday, which was at Seaside,” Rick reminisces, “we hoped to make $200. That meant we needed to sell around 65 cupcakes. By the time we sold the business,” he adds, “we were baking 1,000 cupcakes for the market on Saturday morning. The most popular flavors were German Chocolate, Banana Pudding and Key Lime. In addition, we also sold cookies and brownies.”

The business eventually grew to include elaborately decorated cakes, as well.

The couple says one of the draws to Sweet Henrietta’s was that everything was fresh and homemade from scratch.

“We started with four traditional ovens. By the time we reached the 1,000 cupcake mark, we had two double convection ovens, but we were still baking at home,” Rick explains. “We began baking on Friday morning and baked all day and into the night. We would take a two or three-hour rest, then get up and frost the cupcakes, so that they would be fresh for the market.”

“At this point,” he shared, “we knew we were going to have to do something different. Either take the business to the next level, or sell it.”

Sweet Henrietta’s developed quite a following in the Santa Rosa area.

“Customers would be lined up waiting for us on Saturday mornings,” Rick recalls, “and would cheer when we pulled into our space. It was very heartwarming, and a physical validation that we were doing what we were meant to do.”

He adds that the real Henrietta had quite a following, too.

“She would go with us to market, and became popular because of her frisbee skills,” he said.

“We had some unsolicited help in our venture,” the couple recalls. “Some pretty famous people became fans of our treats, and once that happened, that’s when things really took off.” Emeril Lagasse only served Sweet Henrietta’s in his home when he was entertaining and Vern Yip featured some of their cakes in one of his books, which then led to an invitation to join him on The Today Show in New York City. Zac Brown and Mike Huckabee were also among their well-known clientele.

“Tina was completely self-taught in her baking and design skills,” Rick proudly explains. “She believed so strongly in this vision we shared, that she just absolutely gave it everything she had.”

When the time came to take Sweet Henrietta’s out of the home and into a business environment, the couple decided it was time to sell.

“We had taken the vision God gave us and we worked to make it successful. We got back on our feet and stable again, which is what we had asked of Him,” Rick observes. “We were ready to see what was next.”

The answer to that quest came in the form of a couple who had recently moved to the area to open a coffee shop. When they learned of Sweet Henrietta’s, they switched their focus. “They built a bakery, and have employees who help them run the business,” Rick explained. Sweet Henrietta’s changed hands in December 2017, but Tina remained for six months to train and mentor.

“We have no legal ties to Sweet Henrietta’s anymore,” Rick says. “They bought the name and the recipes. What we have are sweet memories and the affirmation that when we were at our lowest, God raised us to heights we never imagined.”