Kira sweets in the village while serving community sweets
If you find yourself craving something sweet when in Mantua, you are in luck. Kira’s Sweet Bake in the Village has you covered.
Located at 4690 East Prospect Street, Kira offers a range of hand-made confections including cobblers, cakes, cannoli, pies, puddings, and brownies.
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On any given day, customers can find frequent offers of bread, donuts (on the weekends), peach cobbler – Kira’s specialty – large shareable hand pie, and cinnamon rolls to feed the entire block. A variety of cookies and cakes are also available each day.
Kira’s Sweet Bake holds a weekly assortment of cannoli during the aptly named Cannoli Tuesdays. They fly off the shelves, owner Kira Crawford said.
Gary Crawford, store manager and Kira’s husband, said she often has people ask to custom order, with Kira having no problem.
“If they want something special, a special order, I can make it — anything,” Kira said.
Catering for special events through Kira’s Sweet Bakes is an option for those who have more than one mouth to eat. The amount of time Kira needs to prepare depends on what her customers are requesting.
“For example, for an 8-inch cake I only need 24 hours’ notice,” she said. “But if it’s a large sheet cake I need about three days for change on that order.”
Kira and Gary Crawford moved to Hiram last year after spending 20 years raising two children in Streetsboro.
Kiara has been cooking since childhood, something she often used to do with her mother.
“There wasn’t a weekend where we didn’t have sweets,” Kira said. “One of the first things I learned to bake was my Peach Cobbler, which is one of my best-selling sweets.”
It’s always been Kira’s dream to own a bake shop. She remembers telling People that she planned to open a small bakery as part of her retirement. Instead, she is turning baking into a livelihood.
After becoming a licensed home baker in 2021 and successfully selling her goods around town for a year, she decided to open a store front after a drive through town.
“My husband saw it, he said, ‘Hey, you know this building is for rent, what do you think'” Kiara said. “I was like… If we’re going to do this, we only have one shot. So we said let’s go for it.”
After signing the lease and securing some space, Kira’s Sweet Bakes opened in May, receiving a positive response from the city as well as the surrounding areas. Gary and Kira say they’ve found customers in Garrettsville, Aurora, Auburn, Chardon’s and Shellersville.
“Being right outside the turnpike, people are stopping [in town] Maybe to get gas and they see we’re here, and they’re coming,” Gary said.
Currently, there are no plans to expand, but it is something that has potential, Kira said. For now, Mantua aims to continue establishing itself. However, they plan to expand their in-store offerings.
Behind the high-ceilinged, wood-paneled bakery is an area that is currently not in use, separate from the rest of the dining area. His idea is to use the space to host small dinner parties, showers or birthday dinners.
“In addition, we have some activities and programs that we plan to start in the fall,” Kira said. “We’re going to have family game nights where we draw in the community — families — and there’s a lot of different games going on.”
Gary said one of the things he and Kiara love about their shop’s location is the community-oriented Mantua. It reminds them of the close-knit communities of their 1970s childhood.
The shop already has a foosball table, and Kira said they expect to offer a wider selection of games starting in September.
“We’ll have PEDIA going on, we’ll have cards, bingo, all kinds of fun games for families to enjoy,” Kira said. They’ve even got plans for Halloween-themed trick-or-treating activities.
Kiara seems to be enjoying the excitement felt by those who attack themselves with the intention of living their lives for themselves on their own terms.
“I like to bake,” Kira said. “It’s a dream, I feel like I’m in a dream. It’s great to be my own boss and do something I love and profit from.”
Contact correspondent Derek Creder at [email protected]
Gary Crawford, Manager
Kira Crawford, Owner