WORCESTER ― It’s been less than two weeks since the Queen’s Cups closed its doors in Worcester’s Canal District, but some of the most popular items on the bakery’s menu are being made in kitchens both far and wide.
“Everyone kept saying they wanted the recipes,” owner Renee Diaz said. “They’d say things like, ‘You should write a cookbook.'”
Instead of writing an entire book, Diaz has begun selling her recipes on Etsy.
“Putting out the recipes has just been the best way to connect, it’s just been so cathartic for me,” Diaz said, adding the hardest part has been putting the recipes she’s had memorized down on paper in a way that makes sense to the public.
“The messages I’ve gotten are just amazing,” she said. “I got one from a mom saying, ‘I always got a Matilda cake for my son’s birthday and now I can try and make him one.’ I just wish I had more time in the day to get the recipes out there.”
When Diaz announced her shop would be closing its doors at the end of June, she said, the entire city of Worcester showed up.
“I just can’t believe the response,” she said, adding she had been struggling with the decision to close for the last few years.
“I started this at 23 and now I’m 36, so it was kind of like, ‘What is my life without it?’ But then, the response we got from the closing, the messages, the people waiting in long lines, the stories I heard from customers, it changed my mind about my decision.”
“I just thought this was my whole life, but I didn’t realize it was a part of so many other people’s lives.”
Those recipes will live on the kitchens of whomever purchases the step-by-step instructions; 400 have been sold so far.
“It has just healed my heart in such a way, it was such a hard decision to make, to close, and just hearing all of these stories and how excited people still are, it’s been so great,” Diaz said.
Diaz has about a dozen recipes available on her Etsy site, ranging in price from $5 to $25 each. Recipes for sale include the fluffernutter cookie sandwich, the cannoli cookie sandwich, cosmic brownie, Matilda cake, three-frostings, and every dog’s favorite, pup cakes. She plans to add more, including gluten-free recipes in the future.
“I just didn’t realize so many people were willing to bake at home,” she said with a laugh.