Hilltop Bakery soothes the sweet tooth
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Josie Talkington stands in front of her tables of goodies in front of the Greenfield Police Department during the Greenfield Triennial Homecoming. It was the first event that Talkington has ever attended with her newly opened bakery, which is located in her home located at 301 Walnut St. (Carmen Ensinger/Greene Prairie Press)
By Carmen Ensinger
Big things are happening in Greenfield and folks got to taste one of them during the Greenfield Triennial Homecoming when Hilltop Bakery had a booth filled with a variety of baked goods for sale around the square during the three-day event.
At the moment, Hilltop Bakery, which opened for business around three months ago, has no store-front, it is operated out of the home of its owner, Josie Talkington, who lives at 301 Walnut St. in Greenfield.
“I’ve always loved to bake and always done it for fun for my family and friends,” Talkington said. “I’d bake cakes or cookies for birthdays for events or special occasions but that was about the extent of it.”
But then, her partner, Nate Alderfor, convinced her to share her talent with others.
“Nate is the one who pushed me to make it into a business,” she said. “He’s said I was good at it and people love what I make so why don’t I try to make some money off of it. Without him urging me to do it, I probably would have never done this.”
Talkington doesn’t have a commercial kitchen or anything – just a regular oven that she keeps fired up day and night to keep orders filled.
“Between the prepping and baking, it took me about five days total to do everything I made for the Greenfield Homecoming,” she said. “I baked the cakes the day before and froze them and then iced them the day of the event.”
The Greenfield Homecoming was the first event she has ever baked for. Typically, she just bakes on demand.
“Typically, if someone wants to order something, they just call or text me and I will make it for them,” she said. “Or, sometimes, we will do popups, where I will bake a variety of random stuff, advertise it on Facebook and let people come to my house and buy it.”
When asked what the most popular items were, Talkington said there were several items that were fan favorites.
“The cinnamon rolls are a big favorite,” she said. “They are made from scratch and the icing is homemade too. I don’t buy anything boxed or packaged and some of the recipes I use are actually from my grandmother. Then, I’ve noticed anything with peanut butter or oreos are very popular as well.”
In the two months she has been operating Hilltop Bakery, Talkington said she couldn’t have done it without Alderfor.
“Nate is definitely my biggest supporter and he does a lot to help me out,” she said. “He might not do the baking, but he does a lot of the behind the scenes stuff, like the packaging, getting the tables set up, and making sure we have the change, etc.”
