TOPEKA (KSNT) – A local Topeka woman is taking her cooking skills to the next level with the opening of a new business in the Fairlawn Plaza Mall centered around her savory cinnamon rolls.
27 News spoke to Amanda Scully about opening her new business: Amanda’s Rolls Bakery Cafe. Scully said she has extensive experience in criminal justice and psychology, but she found her true calling in baking after a strange set of circumstances.
Like so many others, Scully has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. After being fired from her job, she said she found it difficult to make ends meet and her misfortune came when she needed a root canal.
“I was trying to find a way to make a large amount of money as soon as possible to be able to pay for it,” Scully said.
Scully began brainstorming ways to make money. Making enchiladas, tamales and bierocks were among the ideas she considered before finally landing on cinnamon rolls.
“Apart from Pillsbury jars, I’ve never cooked,” Scully said. “I stayed up and looked online for popular recipes and analyzed what they had in common.”
Scully said she put together a recipe after days of research plus trial and error for her family to try. She didn’t focus so much on measuring everything, but she focused on texture, taste and sensation to find the best method to create the best cinnamon rolls. Soon she was selling them by the dozen to friends and family, switching to dinner sandwiches during the holiday season.
Scully’s client list began to grow with people placing orders from all over Kansas and even Missouri.
“If the order is large enough to warrant driving down there, I’ll take it to them,” Scully said. “I haven’t listed anything more than a day old for sale. When you get your cinnamon roll, it’s as close to coming out of the oven as possible.
For Scully, cooking is just part of the fun. She said that she mostly likes to meet new people and make them feel good.
“My customers, my eaters, they’re amazing, they’re the reason I’m here,” Scully said. “I just feel like this is what I was made to do.”
It wasn’t until about four months ago that Scully considered taking her business up a notch. She had outgrown her kitchen at home and she needed more space to cook her own produce and sell it to customers. With the help of some investors, she Scully considered moving to a place in the Fairlawn Plaza Mall.
Scully said she doesn’t yet have a set schedule or menu for her business. Instead, she’ll cook up different treats every day and keep an up-to-date list of what’s fresh in her shop. In her bakery you can also find products such as special breads, cupcakes, cookies, sandwiches, soups and chili. Scully said she would consider setting hours and hiring staff to help her, depending on how well the bakery is doing.
Scully said she plans to debut her business on March 1 at 4pm. While you wait for Amanda’s Rolls Bakery Cafe to open, check out her Facebook profile here. You can also reach her by email at [email protected] and by phone at 785-580-8221.
Scully is a mother of three and has been married to her husband of 22 years. A native of southwestern Kansas, she moved to Topeka in 2009 to pursue law studies.
