Located on the northwest corner of 12th Street and Highland Avenue in Phoenix, Hunnie Butter Bakery is open Thursday through Saturday. Inside the charming shop, a case displays a selection of freshly baked pastries.
A married couple with two young children, Frank and Wilson have both worked in the food industry for over 15 years. While Wilson most recently served as Food and Beverage Director at a hotel, Frank spent much of her career working in bakeries. It had been a long-time dream of Frank's to open her own. In September 2023, that dream became a reality as the duo opened Hunnie Butter Bakery.
"It's been awesome. It's been amazing," says Frank, who has many fond memories in the kitchen.
Baker Jasmine Frank runs Hunnie Butter Bakery with her husband and business partner Jonathan Wilson.
Hunnie Butter Bakery
"She was an amazing baker. She had a cafe in L.A. years ago, before I was born," Frank says. "She would bake pound cakes for everyone."
Frank's grandfather loved the culinary arts as well and she spent a lot of time growing up in the kitchen. Later on, she developed a desire to learn to bake professionally at attended culinary school.
"I just knew that I had a natural artistic side of me and I was a really hard worker," she says.
Frank started her culinary education in Las Vegas and returned to her native Los Angeles to complete her studies. By the time she graduated, Frank had her own baking business.
"I always maintained having something of my own while still working one to two full-time jobs. I've always been a big hustler," she says.
Over the years, Frank has held positions as a pastry chef at a restaurant, as well as the prestigious former Beverly Hills bakery Rosebud Cakes. There, money was seemingly no issue and it wasn't out of the ordinary to sell cakes for thousands of dollars.
"It was as imaginative, as creative, as over the top and as insane as you can think of, that's what we did. I worked there for a couple of years, and that really helped mold my creativity and gave me that extra boost of confidence that I needed," she says. "Now I feel like I have everything under my arsenal and I can do any kind of cake."
Later on, Frank met her husband at a bakery where he worked. He had just started culinary school. Eventually, her mother started working at the same bakery and suggested they go out. The rest is sweet history.
In addition to a love for baking, Frank and her husband are big on quality and consistency.
"Every single element, from the crust to the filling to the topping, that's all been tried and practiced probably hundreds of times before we even present it as a product to the people," she says.
Everything is made from scratch using real cream and butter. Frank says her customers can tell the difference, often comparing her bakes to those made by their own grandmas and family members.
"It brings back those feelings of nostalgia because it's simple, classic, good, quality homemade food," she says.
Along with their homestyle bakes, Hunnie Butter is also skilled at creating showstopping celebration cakes.
Hunnie Butter Bakery
"We're crazy," she says with a laugh.
In the beginning, Wilson still held a separate full-time job and worked at Hunnie Butter on his days off. Some days, he would do both. The duo have relatives who come by to help clean, or sticker boxes.
"It's really and truly a family business. But all in all, it's beautiful because the consistency is gonna always be there. It's literally only us," she says. "We're always here, we know what things should look like and we both have extremely high quality standards."
Frank and Wilson have had to throw away bakes in the past when they didn't make the cut.
"If we don't like it, we're not gonna then try to sell it. And that's business. You have wins and you have losses, but you're always gonna learn from those," she says.
This commitment to quality has paid off. As time passed, Frank and Wilson have gotten busier. In addition to their brick-and-mortar bakery the couple are building clientele in the wedding industry, and are gearing up for the holiday season.
For Thanksgiving, Hunnie Butter Bakery has released a special menu of delicious pies, cakes, cookies and jars of their famous salted caramel. They will have a special menu for Christmas sweets as well.
Frank says their bakery is built for special occasions, whether that be weddings and anniversaries, or just celebrating the weekend's arrival.
"It's like, 'My work week is about to end, and Hunnie Butter is open today, that's how I'm gonna get my weekend started.'" she says. "It's a great time."
