Found on Facebook as Sweet Confections, Theresa O’Brian runs a small business baking cookies and cupcakes out of her Yorktown-based home. For the last three years, parents of Cardinals have been able to place orders for their students that O’Brian then hand delivers to dorms and off-campus residences. 

O’Brian started baking years ago as a hobby, following the footsteps of her mother who would bake while O’Brian was growing up. Their family made everything homemade out of necessity, so they knew what was going into their food. 

“I have always just been happy making treats and bringing smiles to people’s faces with them,” O’Brian said. “The homemade goods remind people of the treats they’d get at home.”

O’Brian tries to keep the recipes allergen-free by not using different types of nuts or flavoring that people are commonly allergic to. Instead, she substitutes certain ingredients or finds other recipes to fit the needs of the project on hand. She tries to keep her prices as low as possible as well, to allow for more parents to treat their students. 

Because of this, O’Brian only creates a profit of about $3 per cupcake. 

White said her two students love the taste and the thought behind the homemade goods. 

“[Theresa] pays attention oher ingredients and she thinks about everyone as she’s doing that. I can’t tell you enough great things,” White said. “Honestly we don’t have [enough] people in the world like her today.” 

Out-of-state customer Holly Clohessy agreed with White and said that she’d “absolutely recommend” O’Brian’s business to others. 

“In addition to providing some delicious birthday treats to my daughter when I couldn’t, she was very accommodating to the fact that my daughter has food allergies and was very careful that there was no cross-contamination.” Clohessy said via email. 

Parents or students interested in ordering from O’Brian can find her on Facebook.
Contact Ellie Marker via email at eliana.marker@bsu.edu.

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