HANCEVILLE – The owner of Paradise Cove, the newest bakery in the county, comes from a sturdy, Blount County lineage that believed in elbows-deep in flour, apron-wearing, baking-from-scratch Southern cooking.
Jenni Teichmiller has been in charge of feeding a houseful of boys for many years with three perpetually hungry sons and a husband. She doesn’t take the easy way out to keep their stomachs full by throwing together frozen, ready-made meals, either.
She talked about where her love of cooking and skills came from, “Well, I grew up with a mom and two grandmas that cooked all the time so I was in the kitchen helping them as long as I can remember.”
Chocolate cupcakes with buttercream or chocolate fudge frosting were sampled and the tasting ended with the purchase of an additional dozen cupcakes. Paradise Cove’s strawberry pecan bread will have your own granny asking for the recipe.
The lemon crinkle cookies and peanut butter cups are a must-try, but things get really tasty in the Teichmiller kitchen when the cook gets creative and turns out such creations as the Peanut Butter Cup Cake. With the base of a homemade devil’s food cake, Teichmiller adds peanut butter frosting and drizzles the whole cake with chocolate. For the final touch, she sprinkles her homemade peanut butter cups on the top. Think homemade Reece’s Cups made into a cake, but better.
“I made my first decorated cake for Isaac on his 2nd birthday; he turns 20 Friday, so that would be 18 years ago. Wow! It was a Tigger cake that my mom helped me with, and since then, I've been in love with baking!
“I've been making cakes for all occasions for people since then on the side. My favorite thing is for people to come to our house and eat. I always knew I would leave my job after my 20 years working there. Towards the end of last year, when my 20 years was coming up, all my friends and family started prompting me to start my own business. I prayed and pondered for a while and decided I may as well go for it!”
Teichmiller expressed her gratitude for her early success. “I've been blessed with a very good start. It’s an absolute dream come true to be able to do what I love for a living. I'm going at it full-time now and hope I can continue to grow it!”
For more information about Paradise Cove, visit their Facebook page at http://qrne.ws/paradisecove. Paradise Cove is located at 1608 Maple St. in Hanceville.
