Amanda Bernardini enjoyed baking sugar cookies with her mother and grandmother as a young girl in Rochester.
Now she bakes and sells penis-shaped and lingerie-clad ass cookies at Mundy Cakes, her bakery on Allen Street in Buffalo. Since opening Mundy Cakes in the summer of 2018, she has stayed unabashedly true to her no-filter business model –– a model she certainly adopted since her youth.
“I think what’s important in business is being completely yourself. I think that’s how you’re successful,” Bernardini said. “Hell yeah, we sell the sexiest baked goods in all of Western New York.”
The 30-year-old Canisius grad didn’t always plan on making a living selling baked goods. Before Mundy Cakes, Bernardini was a full-time mortgage loan processor, baking extravagantly, and sometimes inappropriately, decorated sugar cookies out of her home as a hobby. She would post them on her Instagram, and when her trendy products started gaining traction online, she realized she could cash in on her talents. But the idea of opening a storefront in Buffalo was just a “pipe dream,” according to Bernardini.
Until it wasn’t.
She remembers in the early summer of 2018 when her friend told her about a bakery on Allen Street that had just been listed for rent. Bernardini was already toying with the idea of buying a storefront and her social media presence was at an all-time high.
In her own words, “the stars aligned.”
“So it was really the space that came up that made me think ‘Oh my god, this actually might be possible,’” Bernardini said. “So I was like, ‘I have to jump on this.’”
Bernardini renovated her newly acquired storefront to reflect her eccentric personality. The outside bricks of Mundy Cakes are hot pink with steps that read “Touch my buns,” “Feed me cake” and “Call me sugar.” Inside, the sexually suggestive and playful themes continue with a pink neon sign on the wall that reads “Eat it” and flirty cookies for sale that say things like “I like ur butt” and “Eat my ass.”
No other bakery in the area sells snacks this sultry.
Those bakeries aren’t as brave as Mundy Cakes.
Bernardini decorates cookies.
“Most people don’t really want to put an ass out there in fear of offending people,” Bernardini said. “But you could put inappropriate sayings on anything and sell it, really.”
Inevitably, some patrons have been upset by Mundy Cakes’ more unique products. But for Bernardini, this was to be expected. You’ve got to break a few eggs to make head-turning sugar cookies.
“[Offending customers] doesn’t happen as much as you would think because most people are pretty chill about it,” Bernardini said. “But it’s definitely happened before where a couple times someone has made a comment. And I mean, there’s really nothing I can do about it. But most people just laugh it off.”
When children come into the store around Valentine’s Day –– when Mundy Cakes produces its most lewd products –– Bernardini tells them that the penis cookies are rocket ships. Elders aren’t as easily fooled, however. Sometimes a grandma will walk in expecting to buy goods from an ordinary bakery but leave empty-handed and shocked by Mundy Cakes’ more unsavory selections.
Mundy Cakes is not all boobs, butts and bollocks, though. Most of the business comes from custom orders of cakes and cupcakes for weddings, baby showers, birthdays and bridal showers.
A store that sells overtly sexual products like Mundy Cakes isn’t traditionally considered wholesome or family-centric. But Mundy Cakes couldn’t be more focused on family, with many members of the Bernardini clan lending helping hands.
“Our grandma, aunts, cousins, mom and dad all rotate to help whenever needed,” said Heather Bernardini, Amanda Bernardini’s sister. “We all do our fair share, especially my mom who splits most of her time between Buffalo and Rochester.”
Amanda and Heather’s mother, Carol Bernardini, helps out at Mundy Cakes the most and is one of the main reasons it exists today.
“At first I was having an issue with some of her stuff, the X-rated stuff,” Carol said. “But it’s her brand and I’m proud of her. But sometimes it’s a little awkward when someone asks for those cookies and I’m the only one there.”
Carol never expected her daughter to take her innocent childhood hobby this far.
“I’m so proud because of how unique [Mundy Cakes] is,” Carol said. “It’s amazing to see her develop and grow.”
Every day with Mundy Cakes is a dream come true for Bernardini. She is living her passion through her business and is content with what the future holds.
“[Opening a store] was always a dream of mine that I didn’t really think would ever happen,” Bernardini said. “Regardless of what happens in the long term, just the fact that I did it. I’m really proud of that.”
Justin Woodmancy is an assistant arts editor and can be reached at justin.woodmancy@ubspectrum.com and @TheHandsomeLake
