It’s been a busy few weeks for Lizzie Lhotka and her family.
Lizzie, the baking guru behind Queen Bee Bakery and Tea Room in Litchfield, has closed the shop to pursue other endeavors in the world of sweets. With a wide variety of baked goods and drinks, the bakery along U.S. Highway 12 served sweet treats to customers for more than one year before closing Feb. 28.
Lizzie’s accomplishments in opening her own business stemmed from her out-of-home bakery, which she started at the young age of 16. In April 2017, her business took a new direction when she served her products in her own venue.
Now, her talents in the baking world will flourish beyond Litchfield.
In a Facebook post, Lizzie said two life-changing opportunities arose for her. She has accepted a position baking wedding cakes for The Knot in the Twin Cities, where she can commute as needed and focus on one product.
But she was also asked to bake for the Academy Awards in Los Angeles, where her treats would have been included in snag bags presented to celebrities.
“It would have been an amazing opportunity,” Pam Lhotka, Lizzie’s mom and manager, said about the Oscars.
What Pam thought was originally a spam message in Lizzie’s email, turned out her daughter was being asked a great honor for the American film industry. “It came down to needing a commercial kitchen, and by the time we found one, it was too late.”
“Should have just baked it all in an Easy Bake Oven in the motel room,” Jessica Lhotka, Lizzie’s older sister, joked.
LHOTKA’S START IN BAKING
Lizzie got her start in baking at just eight years old.
“It was pretty much whenever I could see the stove top,” she said.
Lizzie attributes her inspiration for creating confections to her great-grandmother Dorothy, who taught her the basics. And as soon as she could see the burners, Lizzie started making cookies, which then turned into cupcakes and morphed into other treats as the years went by.
“Mom would sell the cookies at the business where she worked,” Lizzie said. Through word of mouth, Lizzie’s desserts started to sell more frequently, and the orders became bigger. When a European mocha fudge wedding cake was requested by a customer, Lizzie knew it was time to expand her business to include catering.
“She would be so busy in there, in her zone. The young ones would be like, ‘Mom, we’re hungry!’ and it’s like, ‘You can’t go in there! Lizzie’s in there!’” Pam said, laughing.
At 17, Lizzie’s business ventures brought her to Queen Bee Bakery, where she gained support from the community and kept her business in the family.
“I was pretty cool, calm and collected when we got the space and we were getting ready to open,” Lizzie said. “Then we were all pretty sleep-deprived once we did open.”
“Granted, you’re always cool, calm and collected,” Jessica said of her sister.
Her sisters, Jessica and Cecilia, Lizzie noted, were a huge help in serving as baristas at her Litchfield shop, where they worked the counter and the drive-thru as Lizzie baked. For Lizzie, the support of her family made it all possible.
“I have had more life experiences in my 18 years of life than some get in a lifetime. From a dream to reality ... business owner at 18 ... thank you for giving me wings to fly and pushing me when I wanted to fold,” Lizzie wrote on Facebook.
