For years, Mark and Daysha Mayfield searched for a bakery offering delectable desserts in a cozy atmosphere. After failing to find such a place, they decided to create one themselves.
The couple opened Sweet Living Bakery in Marietta on July 20 to “fulfill our passion for providing good, quality food and service to our community,” Daysha said.
“We always found it difficult to find a good bakery that offered good desserts,” she said. “We would find ourselves driving to Atlanta and driving around for way too long, only to be disappointed. Since I have so many family recipes and a natural knack for food, we decided to put (that) into action with a local community bakery. We also wanted to ensure we offered quality and a friendly experience.”
Locating the bakery in Marietta, where they live, “allows us to serve our friends, neighbors and schools,” Daysha said.
“We know most of our customers by name and want to continue to do so,” she said. “We are a Christian family who want people to feel seen and loved every time they come.”
Though the business has been open only a few months, the groundwork for turning the couple’s vision into reality began many years ago.
“Both of us grew up in a family that believed in serving and hosting people through food,” Daysha said. “I also began the initial business by selling our desserts in local convenience stores and partnering with caterers 10 years ago. I took a break to raise my daughters, with the desire to open a bakery in the future. Mark served his country for more than 23 years, of which one of his MOSs (military occupational specialties) in the Marines was to facilitate and manage the kitchen.”
The bakery, which employs seven people, offers three menus. Homemade desserts include carrot cake, brownie cake, praline butter cake, cookies, peach cobbler and banana pudding. The morning menu features cinnamon rolls, cream cheese Danish, quiche, breakfast sliders and multigrain pancakes. Among items on the afternoon menu are salmon croquette and BLT sliders, avocado toast and fried green tomatoes.
The cinnamon rolls, BLT and salmon croquette sliders and carrot cake are the bakery’s best-selling treats.
“The cinnamon roll, I have been told there is nothing like it around,” Daysha said. “The BLT is unique because we use a fried green tomato as the ‘T.’ Salmon croquette is unique because it is an item most people only experience at home by their mom or grandmother, so I think they enjoy the nostalgia and good experience of tasting something familiar done well. Our carrot cake was our top seller before. I think it is the robust flavor and the cream cheese icing that most people love.”
While customers consider the cinnamon rolls as the bakery’s specialty, Daysha said “Mark would say carrot cake, but my favorite is the brownie cake because it reminds me of my aunt who gave several of the recipes I use today.”
Daysha doesn’t like comparing their creation to other bakeries, but she acknowledges that they and their employees “try our best to provide great, personable service and quality desserts, food and pastries.”
“Everything is made fresh with our heart every time,” she said. “I will say we have heard from multiple customers (that) they cannot find a good cinnamon roll anywhere until we opened, and some of our nostalgic items, like salmon croquettes, oatmeal cream pies and rolls we use for our sliders, cannot be found anywhere else.”
Sweet Living Bakery is open Tuesdays-Fridays, 7 a.m.-6 p.m., and Saturdays, 8 a.m.-2 p.m., at 999 Whitlock Ave. 770-693-6907, https://sweetlivingbakery.com/
“Everything is made fresh with our heart every time.”
Daysha Mayfield