By Ginny Raue
When it comes to satisfying a sweet tooth and at the same time pleasing a discerning eye, Jennifer Duran knows her business. Last October, Duran started making her custom designer cakes and desserts available to the public under the banner of “Creative Confections” and things are going well.
Raised in Passaic, Duran has lived in West Milford for the last 14 years. Married to Garth, she has three children; Max, 19, a student at Fordham University, Larissa, 17, a senior at Passaic County Technical Institute, and Luke, 11, a fifth grader at Westbrook School.
Duran, 48, attended Parsons School of Design in Manhattan, earning a bachelor of fine arts degree. She became an art director in the optical industry and worked until just before the birth of Max.
“I was going back but once I saw him, there was no way I was going to part with him,” she said.
She became a stay at home mom for the next 13 years, then started a career as a Realtor. She continues to work in the real estate field part time with Werner Realty in West Milford but she felt her creative side needed a tune up and a road trip.
Duran comes from a family of bakers and she learned much from her mother and grandmother. Her love of baking and creative design joined nicely together and led to her new venture.
“After the absence of creativity for so long, I needed to find a new outlet. One day she said “What the heck, I’ll try to do a real fancy cake.” And so she did.
She went on to invest in the tools of the trade and is now renting commercial kitchen space in her church in Garfield. In a gutsy move, her first order was for a sweet sixteen birthday cake for 150 guests.
“The overwhelming response gave me a lot of encouragement and the confidence to move on. I correct my own mistakes and in a few short months I’ve ironed out so many kinks,” Duran said. With an artist’s sensitivity, she has good instincts as to what will work and knows that practical experience will come in time.
Duran’s desserts are all made from scratch. She had to formulate a cake recipe that would hold up to carving and decorating. Trial runs are not a problem.
“The Lord blessed me with a husband with a sweet tooth. He’s my guinea pig,” she said.
Her fancier cakes are usually iced with rolled fondant. She spends hours sculpting sugar paste flowers and certain decorations require adding color with a brush. The results can be imaginative and beautiful.
Word of mouth has brought customers to her Web site and her door for all occasions when a dessert is called for and, seriously, what occasion does not call for a delicious dessert? Duran puts in long hours creating her confections and she’s happy on the job.
“I’ve made about a zillion cream puffs and éclairs. My personal favorite is my brownies – they should be illegal,” she said.
When people contact Duran for a special cake they often do so many weeks in advance, sometimes with their own very specific ideas and sometimes looking for direction as to design.
“I usually ask for creative license but if they have a definite vision I follow what they ask for. For me the best part is the creative freedom, diving into a project and seeing it from conception to completion. Then there’s the customer’s reaction. It’s gratifying,” she said.
Duran had thought about starting a catering business, but her mom talked her out of it. Now seeing this fledgling business take off, enjoying her work and putting all that pent up creativity to good use, well it seems that mom had it right.
Not wanting to give away any sweet state secrets, Duran sent in a favorite family dinner recipe. Dessert can naturally follow.
To see some of Duran’s creations visit http://creativeconfectionsforall.com. She can be reached by e-mail at creativeconfectionsforall@gmail.com and by phone at 973-476-0370.