Welcome! Sturbridge Bakery is a resource for tried & true bakery-style recipes guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth! Browse through hundreds of recipes featuring cakes, brownies, cookies, pies, and just about every type of chocolate. I hope that you find a recipe you love!

My name is Jess and I am the recipe developer, food photographer/videographer, content creator, and blogger behind Sturbridge Bakery. I currently live in Denver, Colorado, and on most weekends you can find me in the mountains hiking or skiing, taking long walks, and spending quality time with my friends & family (when I’m not baking, of course!).

Connect with me on social media!

How Sturbridge Bakery started

Never in my life did I suspect to have a dessert blog. I grew up in northern New Jersey & graduated from Penn State with a degree in Finance. And while I always enjoyed baking, it was never a career path I considered. The plan was to go to college & graduate with some sort of business degree, move to NYC, and start my career in the city that never sleeps.

And that happened for a little while… until the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, I escaped up to New Hampshire and worked remotely during the entire quarantine (and still do!). With less time spent commuting and no social life, like everyone, I found myself with more time on my hands.

I started to recipe test all different types of dessert. It was a lovely way to let the creative juices flow after crunching numbers all day and it was a successful mental escape from everything that was the year 2020.

I had a ton of fun creating new recipes with ingredients and techniques I hadn’t ever tried. And I adored seeing the faces of my family (who were in my pod at the time!) light up after trying something I made and loving it. Food sparks connection and we needed that during a time when there was little to no connection at all.

Then, at the end of 2020…

Once quarantine was over, I moved back to Manhattan into a 250 square foot studio apartment and continued to bake in my comically small kitchen. I started a cookie business, For Goodness Bakes by Jess LLC, where I sold gifted & decorated cookies. I did this for a while, but making the same type of cookie repeatedly was not the same creative baking experience I remembered.

Most unexpectedly to me, the part of baking that I enjoyed most throughout quarantine and my cookie business was the photography of the desserts themselves. I loved making food look absolutely delicious, mouthwatering, and simply irresistible on screen. My dad motivated me to invest in my passions, so I purchased a camera and enrolled in food photography courses. A few months later in April of 2021, Sturbridge Bakery launched!

I have spent the last few years developing this blog and trying to hone my craft, and I am still learning everyday. My favorite part about running this blog is being able to share these recipes with you! I feel so much happiness knowing that they were made, shared, loved, and enjoyed by so many people around the world. I am so grateful to be sharing these recipes with you and for the community that we’ve created.

Let’s work together!

Are you a brand in the food space looking for food photography & video content? Click here to learn about the ways we can work together!

Latest recipes

Have you tried a recipe? I would love to know your thoughts! Leave a star rating & review on the recipe and tag @sturbridgebakery on Instagram so I can see photos & videos of your yummy bakes!