Dessie Malone wants her customers to really be able to taste the love that she kneads into every batch of rolls that comes out of her home kitchen in downtown Lafayette.
That’s why she mostly works by hand, eschewing tools for all but the most onerous mixing tasks. Her methods have led to some especially sweet success for this home baker: Malone recently outfitted her cottage with a larger-capacity stove and KitchenAid mixer, saved for and bought with profits from Mother Made Rolls — the specialty business that she started on her birthday in 2023.
Malone was 10 days into a 100-day bread roll making challenge that she set for herself as a way to master the art. On that 10th day, her birthday, she spontaneously decided to move the goalposts from “bread maker” to “business owner” — and Mother Made Rolls was born. “I called a friend and was like, ‘I’m starting my own business. Mother Made Rolls — but, your mother is not your maid,'” she said…