Listening to customers is a key element of running a business, and it’s a lesson Dawn Bononi has learned firsthand. When she started More Thyme Together, the brand focused on prepped, take-home meals, but customers really wanted one thing: her gooey butter cake. More Thyme is now a thriving micro-bakery that is all about giving customers the scratch-made baked goods they crave.
More Thyme Together Pastries.
Bononi grew up baking, but never thought it would be the basis of a business. When her husband took over Freddie’s Market, a small grocer in Webster Groves, from his father, the family found itself needing supplemental income. She started selling prepped, freezer-ready meals at Freddie’s and added baked goods in as well. “Those started taking off faster than my freezer meals, so I started focusing in on that,” Bononi says.
As simple as it may seem, what sets Bononi apart is how she portions her desserts. In addition to a standard 8×8-size of gooey butter cakes, she also sells what she calls “guiltless servings,” smaller servings that are perfect for just one or two people. People can grab a quick, sweet treat in a convenient package at a lower price. In addition to gooey butter cake, More Thyme Together also offers sticky buns, chocolate cherry cake and cinnamon rolls.
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Maple pecan sticky bun.
Bononi prides herself on being a creative baker and loves to experiment with different flavors. To her, gooey butter cake is a blank canvas perfect for decorating with nuts, fruits and other mix-ins. Past specialty flavors include lemon coconut, red velvet, mint Irish cream and cinnamon pecan. “As seasons approach, as different holidays come up, I kind of figure out what flavor fits with what,” she says. In the future, she’d love to try a sweet-and-salty flavor profile of gooey butter cake, or even one with spirits.
Cinnamon Roll.
The lemon coconut flavor was so good that it helped launch a new phase of More Thyme. She and some friends were at 2nd Shift Brewing, home of Central State Sandwiches, to hang out, and Bononi had brought some gooey butter cake along to share. “Kyle from Central State tried it … he was like, ‘This is amazing. Can you mass produce this?’ He’s been ordering from me since then. He’s just so great and supportive,” she says.
Bononi’s baked goods are currently available at Freddie’s and Central State, but she’s looking to expand. She’d love to create more partnerships with local shops and food trucks, and potentially sell at special events and farmers markets as well. She is also building up the Instagram end of the business, offering pre-orders for desserts around holidays like Valentine’s Day and Easter.
Variety of gooey butter cakes.
With every step she takes to grow her business, Bononi is proud that her kids get to see an example of an entrepreneurial spirit and the results of hard work. “The whole motto of my company is that if I spend more time in the kitchen, families can spend more time together,” Bononi says. And meanwhile, Bononi’s children get to spend time watching their mother build something special.
For more information about order and pop-up locations, follow More Thyme Together on Instagram. Find a selection of More Thyme’s baked goods at Central State Sandwiches inside 2nd Shift Brewing.
More Thyme Together, online orders and pop-up locations, St. Louis, Missouri, instagram.com/morethymetogether
