Spirit Made Cakes owner Vartine Garabet was gifted with the idea to open up a storefront bakery and café after baking and operating her business out of her home for several years. Photo by Frank Lopez

For Vartine Garabet, Christmas 2022 brought a gift that is now materializing.

Garabet is the owner of Spirit Made Cakes, a bakery that specializes in specially designed custom creations for any occasion.

She opened her new bakery storefront last weekend at the Parkway Trails Shopping Center on Willow and Nees avenues. It’s the next step in the business that began in her home kitchen about seven years ago.

Spirit Made Cakes opened on Nov. 11 at 1345 N. Willow Ave. in Clovis in the former Coast 2 Coast Pizza. The opening is the culmination of a seven-month process of renovation and preparation.

 

Garabet, an artist in fondant — a type of sugar paste that can be flavored, colored and molded — has been baking since she was a 12-year-old girl growing up in Lebanon.

On Christmas last year, after a very busy holiday pop-up event, she felt she needed more help to keep up with orders. That’s when she also decided to open a bakery storefront that would also serve as a café.

“Once I had that feeling, I felt it was from God,” Garabet said. “It was a message, and that’s how we have the name Spirit Made Cakes.”

After weeks of prayer and contemplation, her real estate broker showed her an initial location that didn’t feel quite right. When she saw the location at Parkway Trails, Garabet felt in her heart it was the right spot for her bakery.

Having studied interior design in college, Garabet decorated the interior of the 2,000 square foot café and bakery herself.

The space is adorned with patterned wallpaper, a flower wall, neon signs and Art Deco-style couches and chairs.

Though Garabet already had kitchen equipment in her studio, she bought the kitchen equipment left behind from the owner of Coast 2 Coast pizza.

She said she the total cost for renovation, kitchen equipment and furniture was about $250,000.

Spirit Made Cakes will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with Sunday’s making the space available to rent out for events such as baby showers or tea parties.

Along with the custom cakes, the bakery will serve French pastries including eclairs, croissants, tarts, chocolate parfaits and cinnamon rolls along with smoothies, salads and sandwiches.

Garabet currently has eight employees including, bakers, designers, cashiers and kitchen assistants.

Garabet said there are not many bakeries in Clovis that also serve as a café. She wants to create a relaxing and elegant environment.

 

“The most important thing to me is to have the vibe so people feel comfortable when they have their food, cake and coffee. I live in Clovis, and I’m a person that needs places like this to hang out with friends and family,” Garabet said. “I feel it’s important to have that in town.”

As a self-taught and licensed cake designer, Garabet said she is always trying to learn as much as she can about the baking craft.

In March, Garabet travelled to Canada for a workshop from a well-known Australian cake designer to learn new ideas, techniques and gain new perspectives.

In 2021, Garabet was a contestant in Hulu’s baking competition show “Bakers Dozen”, travelling to Los Angeles for two days of filming. She made it to the second phase of the competition before being voted off.

She said going on the show really helped expand her business profile.

 

Garabet said she is constantly getting calls from the community on when the bakery will open, which really spurred her to try to open up as soon as possible.

She is excited to open up her bakery and café to the community, but she was nervous in the beginning. She had support from her husband, Rev. Fr. Yesai Bedros, reverend at St. Paul Armenian Church in Fresno.
“I feel proud. I did this by myself. My husband helped me a lot, but he can’t do everything. There were times when it was hard, and everyone needs help, like family support. But we did it,” Garabet said.

Once Spirit Made Cakes opens, Garabet said they are going to be busy for the holiday season.