Located in League City’s historic district, Craved Creations blends timeless and trendy, with its light blue cottage exterior and stylish decor. Green vines wrap around the walls, and fresh flowers greet customers as they walk up to the counter to order fresh cookies or cupcakes.

The decor matches its equally bright and vintage-loving owner, Kalie Trahan.

Trahan said she began baking for fun as a teenager and eventually realized she had a talent for it. While attending business school at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, she used baking as a side business before deciding she could make a career out of it.

“I started preparations from my parents' kitchen, and then when I graduated a year later, we opened up the bakery,” Trahan said.

Nine years later, Craved Creations is a thriving bakery that sells around 40 custom cake orders a week and 200 cupcakes daily, along with other sweet treats.

From the oven

For a while, Trahan said it was just her doing all the baking and decorating, along with the help of her family. She used beloved family recipes and experimented with different ingredients to create the desserts she is known for today.

“Our cinnamon rolls are super popular,” Trahan said. “It's actually my great grandma's recipe and like a super old recipe ... [with] real homemade yeast and everything, but it's worth the time that goes into it.”

Lately, Trahan, who sometimes sees herself as a mad scientist, has experimented with other flavored rolls such as strawberry, cheesecake, apple, caramel and chocolate.

Trahan spends most of her time at the bakery working on custom cake orders for clients. (Roo Moody/Community Impact)
Trahan spends most of her time at the bakery working on custom cake orders for clients. (Roo Moody/Community Impact)

The local impact

As for her favorite part of the job, Trahan said she loves being a part of customers’ happy moments. Often, she’ll get orders to do wedding or birthday cakes, but what she really loves is the customers who use cakes for a reveal.

“I've had random little things like people telling their spouse they're pregnant in the bakery with my cupcakes,” Trahan said. “I love to be a part of their special days, and that they picked me to be a part of those days with them.”