After her grandmother died in March, Megan DiCaro decided to quit her corporate job and open Springview Sweets Bakery in the Lockport Metra train station.
Now, DiCaro, 24, is competing in The Greatest Baker presented by Buddy Valastro for a $10,000 prize and a feature in Bake From Scratch magazine.
The contest has multiple groups of bakers that advance based on votes submitted to the contest page. As of Tuesday, DiCaro was in second place in her group competing to remain in the top 15.
If she wins, DiCaro said she would donate a portion of the money to BrainUp.
“They are a brain cancer foundation that offers money for research for the specific type of brain cancer my grandmother had passed from,” DiCaro said.
Growing up, DiCaro said she would spend a lot of time at her grandparents’ house baking with her grandmother, Kathy Schroedle. DiCaro said her favorite thing to bake with her grandmother were Pizzelle, Italian waffle cookies.
“She was the biggest baker in our family,” DiCaro said. “She always just told me to put my heart into it because, at the end of the day, you can mess up any recipe but if your heart is in it nothing’s wrong.”
Her grandmother taught her everything she knows about baking, DiCaro said. In March, Schroedle died at age 77 from an aggressive brain cancer.
“When she passed, I needed something to feel like I was still close with her. This took off like no tomorrow. I would be wrong to say that I didn’t feel she had a part in this,” DiCaro said.
Shortly after her grandmother’s passing, DiCaro said she quit her job to open a bakery. Initially, she was registered as a cottage baker out of her home.
Then, in October, DiCaro said she found the location in the Lockport Metra station and opened Springview Sweets Bakery. Her family helps her run the business, she said, and they bake various cookies, brownies, muffins, cupcakes and cinnamon rolls as well as serve coffee and other beverages.
Connie Geier, a family friend, helps with baking and serving customers. Geier said working at a bakery is a dream come true. When she comes to work, the atmosphere is cozy and homey, she said.
“We take pride in what we make and bake,” said Geier, who said she enjoys seeing people smile as they bite into a pastry before rushing to the train.
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To honor her grandmother, DiCaro said her business slogan is to celebrate life’s sweetest moments, which is what her grandmother always told her to do.
“I could just hear her already. Her biggest thing is anytime you’d get anything done that she’d like, she’d be like, ‘That’s my Megan,'” DiCaro said. “She knew I could get it done. She was my main supporter.”