Kindness + Cupcakes: Forever Sweet Bakery in Norwalk

Over the past decade plus, in and around Norwalk, you’ve certainly come across Sky Mercede.

The Smart Car decked out in pastel pinks and blues, a giant Forever Sweet Bakery cupcake logo stuck on each of its small doors, and he’s also seemingly everywhere, at every event, charity or otherwise, handing out the bakery’s homemade, frosted, sweet delights. And if it’s YOUR birthday and if he gets a tip about it, he’ll probably show up at your job, dressed in one of his many wacky, colorful outfits and bless you with a half dozen.

How does a husband and wife team make it work in business? “Compromise!” Sky says. “Sometimes she thinks it should be done one way, I think it should be done another. She’s a real organized person. This back here (where they bake) is all her, recipes, behind the scenes. It works back here like an assembly line.”

Sky can’t take all the credit, though. The other half of the cup (that’s an attempt at a baking pun) is Frances, Sky’s wife, who you normally may not lay eyes on for the simple fact that she’s the baker, the decorator, and often times she’s in the back making magic, or, on the day I stopped by to chat, she was offsite decorating a cake.

“She handles everything that’s baking and I don’t get involved in that,” Sky says. “She lets me handle the marketing and promotions, customer service, and deliveries. It’s all her in the back. And she won’t let anything out of the door unless she likes the taste of it.”

Truth be told, I’ve been a customer since they opened in Norwalk.

But Frances and Sky weren’t always in the baking business. Sky is part of the Mercede Family that owns the Stamford-based development company, Frank Mercede & Sons, and it’s also where he and Frances would meet, although Sky didn’t even live in Connecticut at the time when Cupid’s arrow hit in June of 1976.

“We’re all builders and my grandfather started the company, then my dad followed after him,” Sky says. “My part of the family moved to Florida and my two uncles stayed here and continued. I came back to Stamford for my grandmother’s 95th birthday and Frances was working in my family’s office and that’s how we met. I was only supposed to be here for the birthday and I ended up staying the rest of the summer.”

Consistency, they say is the key to their cupcakes. And while they do have cupcake that are gluten free, scaling that recipe up to a full sized cake isn’t quite where Frances wants it…yet.

The pair did the whole long distance relationship thing while Sky was finishing school in Florida. Long story short, they’d get married in Stamford, move to Florida as a couple, and they’d eventually end up back in Connecticut.

After some time, it was Frances who had the idea to open a bakery.

“We came back to Stamford because we followed one of our daughters here,” Sky recalls. “Frances wanted to start a bakery. Her family has ties to the catering industry. But the real estate market wasn’t too good then, so we waited and started selling cupcakes in the Stamford Mall as a kiosk.”

The cupcake test they ran in the Stamford Town Center was to see how the business worked. Frances baked out of a commercial kitchen and they would sell cupcakes and see if they were well received.

After positive feedback, they’d try to find an actual storefront, and in 2013, they ended up in Norwalk at 4 New Canaan Avenue where red velvet, carrot cake, peanut butter chocolate, chocolate-chocolate, vanilla coconut, and other cupcake flavors went out the door in droves for six years, before they’d move to a bigger space just around the corner on Main Avenue where they’ve been for another five years and counting.

But what hasn’t stopped in over 11 years in the cupcake business is the way Frances and Sky are present in the community, spreading cheer and goodwill all over. From showing up at openings, charity galas, pub trivia nights, your place of business and more, with cupcakes, of course, to put smiles on faces.

And as I alluded to earlier, Sky himself has become a fun character in and around Norwalk. The crazy suits he wears, the tiny cupcake car, the videos of cupcake giveaways, and the many contests, it’s all just part of who he is.

“My mom—you got me all teary eyed here—she set the foundation for me to be who I am,” Sky says. “My dad was my mentor and my wife put it all together, so she completes me. I enjoy doing this. I get a big kick out of going around surprising people and putting smiles on their faces. It’s YOUR birthday! It’s a celebration! Let’s have fun! Sure, it is good promotion, but it’s in that order; out of the goodness of my heart and the rest takes care of itself.”

Even during the interview, and on another sweltering summer day in what’s been a long string of them, the bakery was giving out free bottles of ice-cold water to customers. One woman walked over from a nearby auto body shop to buy a few cupcakes. Sky offered her a water that she graciously accepted with a big “thank you!” and a smile on her face. “See? That’s what it’s all about,” Sky says. “Just that small gesture can make someone smile and make their day.”

Over the years, Forever Sweet has expanded it’s sweet offerings. Cupcakes and cakes (custom, wedding, or whatever) are a given, but they’ve added thicker, chewier, softer cookies (in addition to their thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies) and cakes in jars.

And cakes pops!

Both Frances and Sky are also about helping other local businesses, something that became even more important in 2020 when the shutdowns took effect. It’s something Forever Sweet Bakery continues to this day, sometimes teaming up with Main Avenue Liquors next door for a wine and cupcakes promo or freebie, giveaways at Angelo’s Specialties or Kean’s Korner Mobil, Dave & Charlie’s Hometown Deli, and others.

“People say I’m everywhere, but I just happen to have a camera (cell phone) with me,” Sky says. “We like helping other people out. Before we got that phone call that we were getting shut down (during COVID), we had 900 cupcakes going out to Sacred Heart. The next call was getting shut down. It wasn’t easy, but we got through. We teamed up with Dave at Planet Pizza and got creative, like buy a dozen cupcakes, get a free pizza. Any kind of cross promotion to help each other out and make our phones ring. Dave and I work great together because we’re both community oriented and help each other.”

Now in over 11 years, they show no signs of slowing down in the way they operate. Kindness first, and the rest will take care of itself. The social media contests and the surprise celebrations will continue, as will all of the cross promotion, but Forever Sweet Bakery, Frances and Sky, will keep on having fun and spreading kindness by way of cupcakes.

235 Main Avenue, Norwalk
203.939.9600, foreversweetbakery.com