Not far from downtown Stroudsburg, Sonia and her husband Carl Tirella show us the variety of cookies, cupcakes, and specialty desserts in their display cases.

“We have about 30 different flavors every single day and some of the most popular cupcakes are strawberry cheesecake, lemon blueberry, and cannoli. We also have French macaroons, combination cookies, pastries, almond cloud, cinnamon buns, flan, and more. And I don’t settle for what I have, we’re always coming up with new things,” Sonia Tirella, co-owner, explained.

Sonia’s Sweet Inspirations is also a popular spot for custom cakes. “We do weddings, baby showers, sweet sixteens, any kind of custom cake for any occasion,” Sonia explained.

Sonia’s passion for baking developed while growing up in Brazil. She drew inspiration from looking at Brazilian recipes, and recipes from around the world. She started competing and winning cake competitions, and enjoyed baking for her church. Finally, Sonia took the leap from her home kitchen to a retail storefront.

“Everyone told me I had a gift and needed to open a store, so that’s what we did. We are helping our customers make memories, and we want our creations to be special for them. I want customers to say ‘that’s one of the best things I ever tasted’,” Sonia smiled.