Losing her job led Jessica Stanley to pursue her passion - cooking - by starting a cupcake business

Jessica Stanley of Albany lost her job at a roofing company last year when it downsized, so to make up for lost income, she learned how to bake cupcakes to sell commercially.

Now she makes hundreds at a time for weddings and birthday, cocktail and office parties. On weekends they are available at the Calapooia Brewing Co. in Albany.

Her biggest sellers right now are pumpkin, s'mores and her signature bacon cupcake.

"That's really a dude cupcake," she said. "No one who ever tried it didn't like it."

The basic cake flavor is vanilla, with bacon pieces mixed in. Stanley smears maple butter cream frosting on the top and finishes it with a candied piece of bacon.

"Now I'm doing what I love," said Stanley, 29, of her Rocket Queen Cupcake business. "After I lost my job, my mother suggested that I do what I love, which is cooking. Originally, I looked into the culinary program at LBCC, but it made sense to do cupcakes after Mary Anna Bakery closed."

To get started, she looked through old family recipes and checked out cake recipe books from the library in Corvallis.

"I sampled a lot of recipes and then I modified them by adjusting the spices, liquids and extracts," she said.

To find just the right name for her business, she asked for suggestions from friends and family members. Her first choice was Food Fights Cupcakes but she learned that a company in Portland was already using that name.

Family friend John Fisk came up with Rocket Queen Cupcakes. He did all of the company's graphic design work as a gift.

Stanley's husband, Joshua, 30, now helps out in the business since he lost his job as a commercial painter.

When they go shopping, they buy flour and sugar in 50-pound bags, eggs in 18-count containers, and dairy, fruit and nuts locally when possible.

Baking, however, is not Jessica Stanley's whole life: She also teaches yoga at the Albany Athletic Club, volunteers at her 7-year-old son Cameron Herring's school, and teaches baking classes in Albany schools.

Eventually, the Stanleys' goal is to open a coffee and cupcake shop in downtown Corvallis.

To learn more about Rocket Queen Cupcakes, call Stanley at (541) 740-5669 or visit her website, www.rocketqueencupcakes.com.

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