There are Suncadia days when you’ll relax and maybe even just laze about in luxury. Then there are days when your appetite turns to the chance of adventure and discovery of what lies just beyond our gates. A short drive our bike ride from our community is Cle Elum, a charming walking district featuring historic buildings, cafes, and shops—the kind of independent-run businesses we love to support whenever possible. One such business is 509 Bake House where the owners, Travis and Desiree Harris, create delicious cakes and cupcakes. Here, the couple tells us about their bakery.
Starting From Scratch
Both Desiree, my wife, and I are paramedics. After we got married, she quit and stayed home with the kids for eight years then decided to turn her art and love of baking into a business. In 2012, she started out by selling cupcakes at the farmers market. Back then there were maybe 10 or 12 vendors. We got a really good response from the community with our products and service so we saved some money and bought a building in town. And in July 2016 509 Bake House was born.
A Sweet Business Model
We identified that there was a need for a good quality product that are delicious and we stuck with that model. We primarily do weddings and other events. Suncadia heard about our quality service and reached out for us to cater some of their events with branded cupcakes and cakes. We custom print logos on sugar sheet and fit them on top of cupcakes. We made River Ridge cupcakes a couple of years ago. The team at Suncadia have always made a conscious effort to support local businesses and often send customers our way.
Home Sweet Home
Desiree and I both grew up in Washington and we moved to Cle Elum in 2010. It’s a quiet community, people here are very resilient and self-sufficient. It’s a sweet place to live if you love the outdoors, which we do.
We mountain bike as a family and I hunt and fish. There’s so much outdoor stuff to do here like Rat Pac, a great place to go mountain biking.
Cle Elum Goods
There are a lot of cool little places for coffee. Pioneer Coffee roasts their own beans. Stella’s and Gunner’s Bistro are cool places to go for lunch. The Cle Elum Bakery is a staple in the community, they’ve been here forever. They do really good donuts! Guandos is a meat and cheese shop across from us.
There’s much to do and discover in Cle Elum. Contact us if you are interested in finding a Cle Elum vacation property or home in Suncadia. And next time you’re in downtown Cle Elum, stop by 509 Bake House or contact them at 509-656-4313 for your sugar fix.