The Mississippi Hummingbird Co.
Story by Dana Setting
Sarah Bramlett accidentally became a serious baker. When her oldest son turned five, the local bakery’s quote for his cake was so large that Sarah decided she would just bake it herself. Challenged by her husband to secure all the necessary equipment for under $100, Sarah rose to the occasion, and the cake turned out perfect. Her friends and family noticed. Requests began to pour in, and in 2019 the Mississippi Hummingbird Co. of Houston, Texas was born.
Sarah, a mom of three, a wife, and a full-time teacher, is a self-taught baker. She spends her limited free time mastering new baking and design techniques and her nights fulfilling orders. With such a full schedule, those nights can be quite long, but according to Sarah, “The challenge energizes me. I’m lucky that I get to create things that taste good, but it’s also so rewarding to see an idea through to completion.” A perfectionist and careful researcher, Sarah said she likes to stay on her toes, always looking to explore new ideas and try new things when it comes to her baking.
Part of this is because she likes to expose her three sons to new things. She likes to introduce them to new flavors and encourages them to broaden their culinary taste buds. When it comes to baking at home, a family favorite is almond macarons with almond filling. She says her sons have become quite the food critics.
With a degree in Fine Art, and a background in sculpture, Sarah’s bakery really does produce masterpieces. She says that it’s a nice change of pace to have sculptures around that you can eat and actually enjoy. While the Mississippi Hummingbird Co. gradually expands (they recently began offering wedding cakes), growing a small business amidst the Covid-19 pandemic has come with its share of challenges.
Events were cancelled for an initial two-week period, but it soon became clear that the shutdowns and delays would last much longer. For the young bakery, it could have meant the end, but in challenge, Sarah feels right at home. “When Covid hit, it forced me to slow down and re-evaluate my priorities,” she said. She shared that the biggest challenges she had to overcome were setting boundaries and learning to advocate for herself, her family and her time. She’s accomplished much of this by streamlining the bakery’s ordering system and the options offered.
The Mississippi Hummingbird Co. offers a variety of fully customizable baked goods from cookies, to macarons, and cakes of all varieties. Sarah loves trying new things and says she can accommodate just about anything. In recent months, as the world slowly reopens, the bakery has provided full-sized wedding cakes— a sign that further growth is on the horizon.
