'What Up Dough' Rolls Though Detroit Bringing Unique Sweets To The Streets
DETROIT (WWJ) -- Mary Beth Carolan very well could be Detroit's own Mrs. Field's as her new shop, What Up Dough, rolls into the Motor City.
Carolan has been peddling a bike cart with her Ice Berger cookie sandwiches at Campus Martius and downtown events the like the Slow Roll, and continues to sell her frozen dough at the Parker Street Market in West Village.
"For me, cooking has always been something that comes naturally and people insist, 'oh, you're really good at this, you should do this for a living,'" Carolan said. "I think that this is just the right kind of business that fits for me."
The Detroit resident studied architecture and earned a Master's Degree in Fine Arts before turning her love for baking into a business back in January.
"Sales are steady, I can't complain," Carolan said. "Everything I add, I get busy with that -- I sell out. It's my day job, it's my night job."
Carolan said that she often tweaks her recipes and looks to keep her ideas fresh, with ingredients like bourbon and orange zest.
"I'll think about an idea, I'll talk it over with friends. We have a cookie brainstorm session," Carolan said. "It just becomes its own monster and I have to be careful and write that stuff down. I see people's reactions and have them come back and say that they enjoy it -- that gets me re-energized."
Carolan plans to expand to other stores in the coming months and says she has recently been able to quit her day job and start baking full-time.
"I think that it could grow pretty big and that's okay with me," Carolan said.
