The Famed Bakery That Went Viral for Their Quarantine Cakes Is Now Selling 'Just Vaccinated' Cakes
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Butter& Bakery
If you've recently received the COVID-19 vaccine and are reveling in it, then this could be the icing on the cake — literally.
Butter& bakery in San Francisco started selling "just vaccinated cakes" on Thursday, almost exactly one year after creating their ultra-popular "quarantine cakes." The shop's founder, Amanda Nguyen, tells PEOPLE that she "felt so proud," when she put them on sale.
"A year ago, there were only three of us on the team, the pandemic put our business at risk, and we had only three weeks of cash to survive on," says Nguyen. "Our community not only saved our business when they started buying our quarantine cakes – they breathed new life into it."
PEOPLE first shared Butter&'s cheeky confections, with phrases like "wash your hands" or "don't touch your face" written on top, in March of 2020 and they went viral shortly after. Customers were sending the $50 cakes to friends they weren't able to see in person or simply buying them for themselves to support a local small business.
RELATED: Quarantine Cakes Are Helping Save This Bakery's Business During Coronavirus Outbreak
Similar to the quarantine cakes, the vaccinated cakes serve 1-2 to encourage people to continue social distancing. In addition to "just vaccinated," you can pick from sayings like "thanks, science!" and "HVD," as in happy vaccination day.
The idea came after a client ordered a custom cake with "HVD" on top in late February, leaving the Butter& staff confused because Valentine's Day had already passed. When they got to the bottom of it, "we all thought it was such a sweet sentiment, as the Butter& team had just received the first dose ourselves," Nguyen wrote on Instagram.
Butter&, Bakery
"The message is an important one, too," she adds to PEOPLE. "The best thing we can do for our communities right now is to get this vaccine, if you're eligible, to protect the vulnerable among us. And maybe someone will thank you with cake."
Since the success of their quarantine cakes, Butter& was able to hire five more employees and has plans to open a retail space in the near future.
Nguyen and her fiancé Ted Moran also started a new business, Pastel, a delivery service that caters to small businesses in the Bay Area. "We'll help local favorites like Tartine, Arsicault, and the Fatted Calf reach their fans outside of San Francisco with high-touch, human-first delivery," says Nguyen.
They take a much smaller commission than bigger companies like DoorDash and Seamless, and are making drivers "employees, not contractors, with above-market wages, top-notch health care, and company-provided vans."
Follow @discoverpastel (and @butter_and) on Instagram or join their waitlist so you can shop when they soft launch on April 19.
