Stephanie Chavez is hard at work inside her little shop, Steph's Sweet Creations, making sure she gives the residents in and around Port Chester a sweet start to 2025.

"We try to keep up with the holidays," she explained. "We have the champagne-shaped cake pops. We have star cake pops. For Valentine's Day, we have heart-shaped cake pops."

Chavez's passion for baking started at home, where she conjured up sweet new ideas to originally just to share with her loved ones.

"I started in 2017 just doing stuff for my family... but I have always baked," she explained. "I love just baking, and I love sweets and chocolate. Then, I started doing it for friends, and then friends started referring me to their friends and that's how I started getting clients."

By 2022, Chavez officially opened her storefront in Port Chester. From cleverly designed cake pops to chocolate-covered Oreos, 10 different flavors of cotton candy and even customized cakes for parties, she makes sure any sweet tooth has something to try at her shop. She said it is the least she can do after receiving so much support from the community.

"I feel like Port Chester, the Rye Brook area, Rye, [and] Greenwich [a]re very into supporting small businesses," she said. "I feel the support. I feel the love from those communities around this area."

That sentiment especially goes for the young ones in the area, who have found the shop to be a safe and sweet spot to hang out.

"Most kids that come here love this place," said Chavez. "It's like their second home...It's like a local place where you go...when you grow up and you're like, 'Oh, I used to go to this candy store.' It feels like they're family."

In addition to simply indulging in their favorite sweets, children can participate in baking classes at the shop and even have their birthday party there. Both ideas stemmed from the positive feedback she received from local mothers who would come to the bakery with their kids.

"They had suggested it," said Chavez. "They're a very tight community, and they were like, 'Hey, why don't you teach kids how to bake or do fun stuff?'"

Steph's Sweet Creations is located at 137 Willett Ave. in Port Chester.